Avatar School for Fanfiction Authors
by Allekha
Summary: When bad fanfiction arises, where do the authors go? To a school, where the cast of Avatar teaches them to write...
1. Arival

Amanda grinned. She had just finished writing the first chapter of her wonderful story. It was about a beautiful girl who fell in love with Prince Zuko. But, the girl was traveling with the Avatar and his group, and didn't want to betray them. So she persuaded Zuko to help Aang, and everyone turned out happy. Amanda was just about to post it on the web, sure that everybody would love it, but her mom called her downstairs for dinner first.

After dinner, when she went back to her room, she found a letter on her keyboard. It was addressed to her. She pushed it to the side and tried to upload her story, but the internet was out. Sighing, Amanda turned back to the white envelope and opened it.

_To Fanfiction Authors,_

_We have been notified that you are trying to write an Avatar fanfiction story. You do not currently have the skills to do so, and we kindly ask that you attend our school so that you may write better stories. Do not attempt to upload your story to any fanfiction site. Or any non-fanfiction site. Just in case, we have cut internet access to your house for the evening. Please fill out the enclosed form and leave it on your keyboard. _

_Thank you,  
The ASfFA staff._

Well, that was weird. How had anybody gotten into her room? But it looked fun, so Amanda filled out the form, put it on her keyboard, and went to bed.

Later that night, a scratching sound came from the window, and then it opened. A small brown and white creature poked its head cautiously into the room. Seeing that Amanda was asleep, it crept over to the computer desk, and climbed up one of the legs. He grabbed the form from the keyboard, opened his wings, and glided out the window.

Outside, he landed on the head of a girl sitting on a horse. The girl reached up and pulled Momo into her lap. She gently pried the form from Momo's hands and placed it in a bag hanging from her shoulder. "Last one," she whispered, and picked up the reins. The horse trotted away.

* * *

Iva Dea paced around her office. Momo and that girl should have been back by now! They didn't have much time. She glanced at the clock again. 12:03. Very little time, maybe six hours at the most. The sound of footsteps constantly running and walking up and down the hall was starting to annoy her, maybe she should invest in better soundproofing sometime.

Then came the sound of feet running very fast, and one of someone being pushed to the side. Her door opened and the girl leaned against it, panting. She reached into the bag hanging on her shoulder, and her hands came out with a pile of forms in them. "Here you go," she said. Iva took them and set them on the desk, while the girl left to get some sleep.

Iva sorted through the forms, setting them in one of three piles. One for beginners, one for enthusiasts, and one for serious writers that would gladly take suggestions. She then assigned a dorm room for each one, based on their group and form. When she finished, she glanced at the clock again. 2:34. Realizing that there was no point in getting much sleep – she would be even more exhausted - the headmistress turned on her computer to read some _good_ fanfiction.

5:34. Aang poked his head into her office. "I'm going to go collect the students with Appa now." Iva nodded absently at his disappearing head.

* * *

When Amanda woke up, the first thing she realized was that she was in a different bed. The second thing was that she was in a different place. She sat up in bed and looked around. The floor and ceiling were made of wood. So were three of the walls. The last one, the one that her bed was against, had a couple of windows in it and was made of stone. There was another bed on the other side of the room, to her right. Each bed had a bedside table next to it, with a lamp and alarm clock on top. The clock read 7:15 (shouldn't she be in school already?). There was also a wooden bookshelf stuffed full with books, many of them thick-looking. On each side of the room there was what looked like walk-in closet with clothes.

Her roommate was sitting on her bed reading a book. She glanced up. "Oh, hey, you're awake. My name is Cema. Get dressed, we'll be late for breakfast." She looked down again and continued reading.

Amanda walked over to the closet and stepped inside. She shut the doors behind her. The clothes weren't her own, but they would do. She finally decided on an outfit and tied her hair back quickly.

When she came out, Cema was looking at a piece of paper. Amanda found one of her own in the bedside table's drawer, and discovered that it was a map. She and Cema headed down to breakfast, along with a number of other kids and teens of varying ages.

At breakfast, there were many round tables laden with food. At the back though, was a long table that was more rectangular. Sitting there was the cast of Avatar, and a few people nobody recognized. Most people were staring up at the table, but a few had started eating, and gradually more people joined in the meal. After most of the people had finished eating, the person in the center stood up.

"Greetings, students of this school. You have all been selected to learn here at Avatar School for Fanfiction Authors. I am your headmistress, Iva Dea. These will be your teachers." She indicated the other people at her table. "Aang will teach you about bending and various other powers, Zuko will teach you about Original Characters (OCs), Katara will teach you about pairings and clichés, and Sokka will teach about grammar and spelling. Appa will teach about creatures, weapons, and other minor things. You will be given a translator for his class.

"You were brought here from your homes by Aang and Appa. They will be giving tours of the grounds later. You will find all the appropriate books for your classes, as well as a few others, on your bookcases. Now, onto rules: Keep a respectful distance from the teachers at all times. Do not attempt to hug or tackle them. Get to your classes on time. Lateness without a good excuse – such as injury, not because you needed to tie your shoelaces – gets detention. Since you have maps, do not claim to have been lost. The punishment for not completing homework will be decided by teachers. Also, all or almost all of your first class for each teacher will have a test - just a warning, if you hate tests. Classes last an hour each, from 9-12 and 12:30-3:30. You also have a break hour. Breakfast is 7:00-8:30, lunch is 12-12:30."

Iva sat down. Aang stood up. "I just want you all to know, if you see Momo flying about, he is acting as a messenger. And please don't grab at him. He really hates that." Aang sat back and Zuko stood up.

"Also, for members of the Zuko Fan Club, I am holding a meeting in my classroom later. Don't try anything, as Katara will be supervising, and the Avatar will be outside the door." He sat down.

Iva stood up again. "One last thing, DO NOT START THE PAIRING WARS!" Her shout echoed around the room and made a few people cringe at its intensity. "No pairings will take place. Anyone who starts a pairing war will be in _big trouble_. I do not like the chaos that comes with them. _Is that clear?_"

She received only fearful, confused, disappointed, and uncaring looks. Smiling pleasantly, she sat down again.

After they ate, the students went and got their things, and everyone headed to their first classes.

* * *

A/N: January 23 and 26, 2008: I went through and revised the whole thing. As I wrote the first few chapters of this a few years ago, after I had gone a long time without really writing much, I hope this is an easier read now.

Disclaimer: Avatar does not belong to me, and this story is not making any profit. Also, the general idea of this story was first written by Camilla Sandman. I'm just borrowing it with permission.


	2. First Classes Part One

As Aang was walking toward his class, he heard a screech behind him. He turned around just in time as Momo flew right into his chest. Aang picked Momo off the floor. Momo shook his head, wriggled out of the grip, and flew off again. Aang knelt down to retrieve the scroll and opened it:

_Aang-_

_Do you think you can take care of some mayhem in that village near here? Many of the people there work for one company. They think they're getting paid too little and started to riot. The village has such a small police force - are you willing to help? Flannie can take over your classes while you're gone._

_-Iva_

Aang started walking again, this time toward the main door instead of his classroom.

* * *

The students slowly filed into Bending for Beginners. The room was paneled in wood, except the outside wall, which was stone, just like the bedrooms. The wall of stone had several long windows in it, showing the rainy, dreary day. The desks were old-fashioned, with iron legs curved in intricate patterns. Sitting at a desk at the front of the room, which was more modern looking, was not Aang, but a tall girl with bright red hair.

As soon as everyone was seated, the girl stood up. She looked to maybe be about fifteen or so.

"Hello, and welcome to Bending for Beginners. Your usual teacher, Aang, got called away to help settle a riot or something like that. I'm going to be teaching you this time. My name is Flannie. Now, before I give you the test, there is something very important I need to pound into your heads. I will be shouting, but I'm not actually angry. Emotion just helps you to remember." She took a deep breath.

"THERE ARE NO BENDERS OF THE LIGHT, SHADOW, STORM, LOVE, WOOD, LIGHTNING, BREAD, OR ANYTHING ELSE VARIETY!" she screeched at the top of her lungs, pounding her palm on the desk with each variety. "THERE ARE ONLY WATER, FIRE, AIR, AND EARTH BENDERS, LIKE THE FOUR SEASONS!" She kept pounding the desk at appropriate intervals. By the time she stopped, most of the class was as far back in their seats as possible. Her voice was _loud_. Flannie rubbed her palm with her other hand and continued talking.

"Right, now that that's over with, time for that test." She picked up a stack of papers from her desk and began to hand them out. "This test has questions about bending, bending moves, and various powers. It won't be graded, but be sure to do your best. We need to know how much _you_ know." The class started the test.

Circle _one_ answer to each question.

1. Dustbender?

A. Don't need. We have earth benders.

B. I wanna be one.

C. What're their powers? Making people sneeze?

D. Huh?

2. Ability to see into the future.

A. Impossible.

B. Could be overpowered, otherwise but could be okay.

C. Like Aunt Wu?

D. Way too overpowered.

3. Benders of two elements.

A. Can't have

B. Possible but RARE.

C. Cool!

D. Overpowered most probably.

The test had around a hundred questions, getting harder as they went. Eventually, the bell rang just as Flannie started collecting the tests. Everyone stampeded out. Flannie sighed to the empty room and finished collecting tests, then stowed them under the teacher's desk. From under it she pulled out another stack of tests and put it on top of the desk. Now she just had to wait for another group of students.

* * *

Katara watched as the students walked into her classroom. It looked exactly like Aang's, except that the stack of papers on her desk was shorter.

As soon as everyone was seated, Katara stood up. "Hello, and welcome to Cliches and Pairings: An Introduction. For those of you with short memories, I am Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe."

She picked up the papers and started walking around, handing them out.

"On one side of this paper, there is a list of possible plot ideas. Circle the ones that you consider cliches. The other side has some pairings. Not all of them, but some of the more popular ones. Next to each one, state why you like or dislike it, or if you don't have an opinion. _Please_ keep it civil."

As soon as everyone had a paper, Katara sat down at her desk again, reading a book. The test didn't take very long, as it was rather short, and she had barely finished her page before almost all the students were done.

She replaced her bookmark and collected the papers. Setting them down on her desk, she turned back to the class.

"Now, it's alright to use a cliche plot if you want to, but you need to add a bit of your own spice. If your story is almost a copy of someone else's, that will deter readers. It is also important to keep the characters in character - that is, the act as they do on the show. People read fanfiction because they care about the world and characters."

A boy raised his hand.

"Yes?" Katara asked.

"Why do people dislike cliches so much?"

"Because if you read stories with the same plot over and over again, it starts to get boring. After a while, they usually start to become very similar. Sometimes they turn people completely Out Of Character (OOC) as well."

"Like the classic Zuko-captures-Katara-for-bait-and-they-fall-in-love story?"

"Yeah, that's one. There are a few good ones though... not that I'm vouching for that plot."

Just then, the bell rang. Everybody rushed out, heading for their next class.


	3. First Classes Part Two

One by one and two by two, the students gradually filed onto the lawn. They sat cross-legged in rows. In front of them lay Appa.

As soon as everyone was seated, Appa started to make those noises that Appa makes. A first everybody was really confused, before they remembered that they had to put on translators. Everyone rummaged through their bags until they found something that looked like an earphone for a headset. They stuck them in their ears…

"Welcome to my class. I will be teaching about creatures, weapons, armor, and other miscellaneous things. Let's start with creatures. Now, who can name the creatures that have been the most important?"

A boy with dark hair and skin shot his hand into the air. Appa called on him. He stood up. "The koi fish in the season finale, you, Momo, the Komodo Rhinos, the Wood Frogs, the Penguins that Aang and Katara went sledding on, the Giant Koi fish, and the Unagi." He sat down again.

"Good. There are also many minor creatures, but we'll get to them in another lesson. So why are these creatures important? What makes them special?"

This time a girl with short blond hair put her hand up. Appa called on her. "The koi fish are the Moon and the Ocean spirits, which water benders use for water bending, and were important in the first season's finale. You transport Aang, Katara, and Sokka around the world. Momo helps to get them out of trouble, and is in most of the episodes. Komodo Rhinos transport Fire Nation soldiers. The Wood Frogs made Katara and Sokka better in episode thirteen. Aang and Katara went Penguin Sliding, which led to the ship that was important. Aang rode the Giant Koi fish and that's why they went to Kyoshi island. Aang used the Unagi to put out the fire on Kyoshi Island." She took a deep breath and sat down.

"Very good explanations. Now…" The lesson continued until the familiar bell rang. Appa gave them homework, which was to list all the creatures they remembered from Avatar, and draw a picture of one of them.

Zuko glared at all the kids coming in. He didn't _want_ to teach. He had better things to do then yell at kids all day. Like run from his sister. Oh well, at least it might help stop all those stories with him being paired with Sues…

Zuko noticed that many of the girls were drooling on their desks, staring at him. He stood up and glared at them, just as the last person passed through the door. His glare seemed to have no effect, though. He sighed, resigning to ignore them, and picked up a stack of tests. "This test will determine how good you are at identifying Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus. I recommend you look at it instead of me."

1. Allaya is a girl, with long black/blonde/brown hair that is very shiny and she is beautiful. Her eyes change color depending on her mood. She is like the most uber-powerful girl in the world, and she can bend earth, water, and fire and can talk to animals and can make anyone fall in love with her.

Mary Sue

Not Mary Sue

2. Andrian is a boy with really nice eyes that are brown with green and blue and gold specks, that sparkle when he is happy, which is all the time. His hair shines like meadow dew in spring and he is like a really good fighter!

Gary Stu

Not Gary Stu

3. Karia is a girl that can fight well but not bend. She doesn't look very good, though she's not ugly, but can help others do so. She has a bit of a temper, but thankfully not enough to get the best of her all the time.

Mary Sue

Not Mary Sue

The test took up the whole lesson, for which Zuko was glad. As the bell rang, he started collecting tests. A few Zuko Fan Mob members that remained were easily sent on their way with a bit of fire.

Sokka sighed as the kids filed in. At least this would be his last hour of torture for the day. He stood up. "My name is Sokka. I will be teaching you Grammar and Spelling. First, we have a test. Correct the sentences that aren't correct."

1. Iv'e loved yous forever.

2. Ill nevar let you go.

3. why must we be seprated.

4. Plants grow in the sunlight.

5. Matches' make fire

The beginning questions were so easy, pretty much everybody could figure out where they went wrong, but the rules that were broken grew steadily more obscure, and including a couple of questions about regional differences in English grammar. Even the students really good at grammar had trouble on the last few questions. When the bell rang, everyone dashed out from their last class, thankful to be free.


	4. Zuko Fan Mob!

Amanda sat down to dinner. She had somehow managed to get through the day. Four tests. Five classes. It had stretched her brain quite far. She glanced up at the staff table to see that Headmistress Iva was standing up, trying to get their attention.

Gradually, everyone started to watch Iva, until the whole room was starting at her.

"Members of the Zuko Fan Mob, please proceed to Zuko's classroom. Do not run there. Please."

Many of the members ignored the last sentence.

They assembled outside the classroom. Katara was already inside, while Aang and Flannie were outside. Flannie was lecturing the mob on how to behave. "Don't tackle him, hug him, tie him up, stuff him into a box, or anything like that. That is, if you'd like to avoid hypothermia or hyperthermia. Don't argue over who he'll end up with. Don't interrupt him unless _absolutely necessary_. I think that covers just about everything…" She opened the door. They stampeded in. Or tried to, anyway.

There was a block of ice in the way, instead of the doorway. Several of the members in front felt ice-induced injuries. After they all stopped, the ice melted unnaturally fast and the water danced away. Cautiously, the Zuko Fan Mob crept into the room. In the corner was Katara, and sitting at his desk was… Zuko! Remembering their warnings and the incident that had just occurred, they sat at the desks instead of running over to hug him like they wished to.

Once they were all seated, Zuko stood up. He glared for a moment at a girl who was drooling on her desk, the started to speak. "Welcome, members of my fan mob. I understand that you must like me very much, but could you put it out of your heads during lessons? If I have to teach horrible writers such as yourselves, I'd much rather teach _smart_ horrible writers that **pay attention**."

Several of the fans jumped at the last word. "Also, _stop_ writing those stories that pair me up with Mary-sues. It gets very annoying after awhile. That's all." Slowly, the Zuko Fan Mob walked out, watching Zuko until he was out of sight. One girl couldn't help herself and ran at Zuko screaming. She quickly found herself under a mountain of ice cubes and had to be carried to the infirmary.

* * *

Zuko sat down in the staff room. The rest of the cast of Avatar, Flannie, Iva, and some people who kept everything working, were there. He sighed. "I hate fan girls."

"No, you don't," replied Flannie. She sat down beside him with a cup of hot chocolate. "You just hate the rabid/fangirly ones that come after you. Too bad the Fan Mob that you have isn't more like the Sokka Fan Club…"

For a while, the teachers discussed things like the punishment for not doing homework. The solution they came up with for that particular one was detention, unless it was happening frequently. If it was happening frequently, then they would have a very long talk with Iva.

At 11:06, Iva stood up and stretched. "Good night everyone, I'm going to bed now. I recommend that you do the same soon." She left.


	5. Marathon

_A few days later…_

Amanda's feet pounded along the empty hall. '_Stupid watch_,' she thought. 'Stupid, stupid, watch. WHY did it have to break and me not notice?' She continued running towards dinner.

As she slid into her seat next to Cema, she saw Iva stand up. Gradually, the level of noise in the room subsided.

"I have an announcement to make," Iva started. "First of all, you will all be going home for the weekend tomorrow. You will find yourselves back here on Monday morning. No, we aren't telling you how it's done. Second, next week we will be holding a marathon of Avatar. Each night, you will be separated into groups. Each group will watch four episodes every night in their own mini theater. If you do not wish to watch every episode, you are only required to watch one every night."

Cheers filled the room, and Iva sat down. Amanda ate her food quickly, finishing before Cema. She then bolted up the stairs to her room. She couldn't wait to be home.

* * *

When Amanda woke up, sure enough, she was in her bed. She jumped out and dashed for the kitchen. Her mom was cooking pancakes for breakfast. She nodded to Amanda as she slid the pancakes onto a plate. "How's your new school?" her mom asked as they both sat down. "It sounds very educational, according to the letter we got. They picked you up early in the morning, didn't they?" Amanda continued eating for several minutes while her mom talked.

"…Anyway, what do you think of it?" Amanda swallowed a mouthful of pancake. "It's great, mom. Can I see the letter you got please?" Her mom nodded and went to get the letter.

_Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),_

_You child has been accepted into The Writer's Academy. Our school's focus is mainly on writing, and several famous authors have attended our school. We have already picked your child up, and s/he will come home for the weekends._

_The staff of TWA_

_If you wish to write to your child during the school week, either send a letter to an e-mail address, or to the address of_:

Below that, there was an address, and in the envelope were several pages with information about the school. Amanda thought for a moment. The letter hadn't used the schools name, or mentioned that the Avatar characters were there. 'Mom will never believe me if I tell her,' she thought.

"Tell me more about it, dear." Mom's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Okay Mom," Amanda answered back. For the next half-hour or so, she talked all about the _wonderful _grammar class and the _amazing _clichés class. And all the other classes.

* * *

_Next Monday, 6:37 PM_

The teachers were trying to get the students organized into groups. It wasn't easy, as only half the kids were listening. Finally, under threat that the whole thing would be canceled, everyone was organized and each group had a number.

As Amanda stepped into theater number four, the first thing she saw was red. The carpet was red, the seats were red, and the walls were red. The only thing not red was the screen of the TV, which stood out, black as coal.

She sat down in the front, next to Cema.

Nothing really eventful happened during the first couple of days, except for excessive drooling during episode three by the Zuko lovers.

On the third day, however…

Flannie was nervous. She _knew_ what was going to happen. And her phobia of rabid fangirls was not letting her enjoy episode twelve. Checking the clock again, she sighed and fiddled with the string around her neck. Not long now...

Sure enough, the Agni Kai sequence played out. Exactly 2.7 seconds later, many students who hated Ozai or loved Zuko sprang up and rushed towards the television screens.

Flannie pulled out the whistle from under her shirt and blew it as hard as she could. The sound brought everyone to a halt, and she stopped blowing. Before anyone could move more than another inch, she yelled. "**FREEZE**!" They froze.

"For those of you who wish to destroy/torture Ozai, please _calmly_ proceed out the doors. We have provided cardboard silhouettes for you to harm instead of our televisions." About half the theater dashed out to do so. The sounds of ripping, burning, and flying cardboard were blocked by the soundproof walls, and the episode continued playing.

* * *

_20 minutes later, inside the Staff room…_

Flannie sat down and proceeded to bang her head on the table. Iva frowned. "Flannie, stop that. You're useless when you have a concussion." Flannie obliged, instead resting her forehead on her arms.

A moment later, Katara struggled in. Her arms were hanging onto a girl, who was thrashing around quite violently. Katara dropped her in the middle of the room, and the teachers made a ring around her.

The girl landed on her hands and knees, but did not get up. Instead, she turned around and around, growling at them all. Flannie stepped backwards a few paces.

"What'd she do?" Iva asked after a few minutes of silence (except for the girl's growling).

"Everybody else dashed out to attack the fake Ozais, but she attacked me instead. I managed to get her under control pretty fast, but I think she might need to see a psychiatrist."

"Ok, so we knock her out, and Flannie takes her home with Sokka to help her. Simple," Iva declared.

"Where _is_ Sokka, anyway?" Aang asked. Sokka wasn't in the ring of teachers, nor was he eating at the table. He wasn't in the room at all.

"Probably on the north tower, staring at the moon again," snorted Zuko.

"Well, someone should go get him. He's supposed to be here right now," Iva said. She hadn't even gotten halfway through the second sentence before Flannie was out the door.

* * *

Sokka sighed. The moon reminded him so much of Yue. Probably because Yue _was_ the moon.

He sat on the edge of the parapet. The moon was full tonight, and cast a brilliant glow that lit up the landscape.

How long had he been sitting up here? He probably needed to get down to the Staff Room now, since they were supposed to be having a meeting. That thought was confirmed when the trapdoor to the tower opened up, revealing a panting Flannie. After she had caught her breath, she explained the situation down in the Staff Room, and Sokka gave the moon one last glance before following Flannie to the trapdoor. Her expression softened.

"Thinking about Yue?"

"Yeah."

They disappeared down the hole.

* * *

When they got back down to the Staff Room, Zuko had managed to knock out the girl without hurting her _too_ badly. As Sokka entered, Zuko glared at him.

"Where have you been? Drooling over the moon again?"

"He happens to miss Yue, you know."

"Besides, I'm here now and that's what matters." He walked over to the girl and picked her up. "What'd you guys do to her?"

Iva suddenly gasped. "Oh fates, no!"

"What?" Flannie moved over to her best friend. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't we enable the anti-ship program when we brought these guys here? Sokka shouldn't be infatuated with Yue still!" She rushed over to a machine sitting quietly in the corner that looked like a cross between a computer and an arcade machine. Typing something out, she squinted at the screen.

"We have a bug."

"A glitch?"

"No, a real bug." A cockroach scurried out from under the machine and squeezed itself under the door. "We'll have to call an exterminator in the morning. Right now, you need to help take that girl home."

Sokka was waiting by the door. Aang, Katara, and Zuko had already left, presumably to get some sleep. With a mumbled, "C'mon, let's get Ravenfoot," Flannie and Sokka also left. Iva finished what she was typing and abandoned the room. Only the cockroach was left.


	6. MarySue Attack!

_Next Monday, Breakfast_

It started out as an ordinary day. Amanda munched her cereal while wondering what would happen today.

Suddenly, a very loud alarm sounded.

**BEEPbeepBEEPbeepBEEPbeep**

In an instant, everybody's hands flew to their ears, trying to protect them from the ear-splitting volume. Someone dressed in a maintenance worker's outfit ran in and, shouting something that might have been, "Sorry!" turned a dial to bring the sound down to a tolerable level. Amanda picked herself off the floor (somehow she had fallen off her chair) and looked towards the staff table for an explanation.

When the volume had been turned down, Iva's eyes had widened and she sat painfully still, except for slowly lowering her hands from her ears.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Aang, staring at Iva.

"And what's with the weird noise?" added Sokka.

Flannie slapped her forehead. "I knew there was _something_ we left out!" Sighing, she explained. "You see, we have several different alarms. The most important one is the Mary-Sue alarm. Iva is deathly afraid of Mary-Sues. Anyway, for each alarm we have a plan. The plan for the MSA-"

"MSA?" Aang wondered.

"Mary-Sue Alarm. As I was saying, the plan for the MSA is for me to check it out. While the rest of you stay here and keep the kids - and Iva - calm."

"Why do you get to go confront the thing while we sit back here?" demanded Zuko.

"Because Iva said so. And we kinda didn't want you to get smothered to death under a pile of the things, if such a group came. It's probably less wasteful of energy if I can take care of it myself, too. If I can't, you guys get to kill it," Flannie answered while searching for something sharp and pointy. Finding a fork, she stood up fully and addressed the students.

"Many of you are probably wondering what the noise was. It was our Mary-Sue Alarm. That means that a Mary-Sue is very near. Please remain calm." The crowd stared at her as if panic had been the furthest thing from their minds. "Remain seated and quiet."

Flannie started weaving through the tables, finally reaching the doors. Hesitantly, she opened them and disappeared. Thirteen and a half seconds later, there was loud screaming, the sound of someone getting thrown against a wall, and a fork flew into the room, narrowly missing Amanda's head.

Flannie flew back into the room. She was breathing heavily and her shoulder was bleeding badly. Scrambling to close the doors, she addressed the students again.

"Get under your chairs or tables! **Now**!" Everyone complied. Having successfully closed the doors, she heeded her instructions herself.

A few seconds later, the doors were blown open by an explosion. In their place was the most hideous girl anyone had ever seen.

Her eyes and hair cycled through a rainbow of colors, not just natural ones. Her skin was flawless, and she had a generic sword across her back. She skipped through the room, oblivious to all the stares she received.

"We're supposed to fall in love with people like **her**?" wondered Sokka.

"Unfortunately, yes."

Katara drew a bit of water from her canteen and froze it. Standing up from her kneeling position over Iva, she hurled it at the Mary-Sue.

The Mary-Sue diverted it with a wave of her hand.

"Silly." She said in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. "You should know I'm an Icebender, Lightbender, Shadowbender..."

Flannie fished around for a spork on the table. It was hard not to resist the temptation to peek above the tabletop, but she didn't want to become blinded by the Sue. Her hearing was being ruined badly enough.

"Darknessbender, Toastbender, Lightningbender..."

"Aren't darkness and shadow pretty much the same thing?" Aang said.

"Will she ever get to regular bending?" wondered Flannie, finding a spork. Sitting as far up as she could, she aimed, threw the spork, and...

Missed by a wide berth. The Sue continued speaking, unaware of the attempt to destroy her.

"Lovebending, Plantbending, Silverwarebending..."

Flannie found another spork.

"Who here has the best aim?"

"Sokka," was the unanimous reply. Flannie handed the spork to him.

"Lavabending, Metalbending, Bloodbending..."

"Gods, who thought _her _up?"

Sokka aimed carefully, threw the spork, and hit her directly over the heart. She screeched an ear-splitting screech. Thankfully, it only lasted for .02409317 of a second before she collapsed.

* * *

_9:02 AM, Aang's class_

"Good morning, everyone!" Aang exclaimed cheerfully as the last person slid into their seat. "Today we will be talking about - " He noticed someone had their hand in the air already.

"Yes?"

"I have a question. In the first lesson with that girl with the red hair, she said that their was no bending outside of Air, Fire, Earth, and Water. But in episode 21 we see Azula Lightningbending?"

"You see -- "

"And in episode 24, we see those people Plantbending."

"Well -- "

"And in the newest episode, we see desert people Sandbending."

"Actually, you don't. 'Lightningbending' is an advanced form of Firebending. 'Plantbending' is actually bending the water inside the plants. 'Sandbending' is a specialized form of Earthbending. They're just specialties of their respective bending types, not really bending types all by themselves. Now today we're going to be talking about bending styles..."

* * *

_10:00 AM, Katara's class_

"Today, I'd like you to write down any 'hints' towards you're favorite pairing." Said Katara, handing out papers. "Later, I'll combine all of them into one big list. Remember, no bashing."

"What if we have more then one favorite pairing?" someone asked.

"Pick one."

"What if none of them could ever possibly happen?"

"Pick one that could."

"What if we don't like -- "

"Just pick one!"

Katara gave them plenty of time to write, and as she collected papers, she gave an assignment.

"For homework, think up a cliche plot and write it, with an all new twist. It's due on Thursday next week. It doesn't have to be super long."

A boy with deep blue eyes raised his hand. "Does sp -- "

"Yes, spelling and grammar counts. Get someone to read over it for you, or my brother might be willing to help, if you ask politely."

The bell rang, and everyone stampeded out.

* * *

Amanda had free time next, so she took the opportunity to start writing. She sat down on her bed with a notebook and a pencil. After setting her alarm, she started to write. Cema came in a few minutes later and also started to write.

After a while, Amanda stood up. She stretched her arms and legs, then picked up her notebook and walked over to Cema.

"Could you please spellcheck this for me?" she asked. Cema shrugged and took the notebook.

Amanda's alarm went off just as Cema was finishing. Amanda winced to see all the corrections on it, but she just threw the notebook in her bag and headed off towards the lawn.


	7. Sue Analysis and CCC

Zuko scowled at all the students standing around the display. Yes, it was pretty horrible, but didn't they have enough self-control to suppress their gagging? Alright, he'd thrown up three times today, but he'd actually had to _touch_ the thing.

The 'thing' was the dead Mary-Sue. She had been mounted standing straight up on a platform. Her eyes and hair no longer cycled through various colors. Her hair had stopped on light brown, and her eyes on mint green. Even though she was dead, she was still disgustingly beautiful.

"How can anyone like these things?" Amanda whispered to Cema. Cema just shrugged and jotted down a note.

"Alright! Lesson started! Notebooks and pencils away." Cema reluctantly stowed the items in her bag.

"Today we are lucky - or unfortunate - enough to have an actual Mary-Sue to study."

Zuko picked up a pointer from his desk, then walked over to the Sue. He pointed it at her eyes.

"First, we'll go through a description of her looks. Her eyes have unnatural colors and change color every second. Automatic NO! Same thing with her hair."

The pointer tapped the bare skin of her arm. "Perfect skin is _possible_, but much less common in our time then yours. People usually have flaws in their skin - like scars from fights. Don't overdo it either way, unless you want to give them a medical condition or something."

A boy asked, "What do you mean by overdo it?"

"You don't have a character walking around with their skin covered in bruises and cuts unless they just got into a fight. It probably means that they have some sort of horrible tragic past and that we should a feel sorry for them for it."

The pointer tapped her clothes and shoes. "These don't fit in with our universe. They should be burned and replace with something more suitable."

Finally, the pointer traced the edge of her sword. "If your character has a weapon, be descriptive! There are many types of swords, and different kinds of bows, and they are used differently. What do they _look_ like and how are they used? Don't babble about them for a paragraph, but don't just go 'A sword was on her back'."

Amanda timidly raised her hand. "What if we don't know about different kinds of swords and stuff?"

"Research it! You have Internet, don't you?" Amanda shrank back.

"Now let's talk about her abilities. First, the obvious assortment of nonexistent bending types. Automatically a Sue. The sword on her back probably means she's skilled with it. There's nothing wrong with that skill, if it is kept to a reasonable level. But combined with her many bending abilities, it makes her even more overpowered."

Zuko turned and threw the pointer into the far corner. "The rest of today's class time will be used to De-Sueify her. Get working!"

Amanda started writing in her notebook, hearing Cema muttering under her breath next to her. 'Let's see, no bending, keep the sword...' When the bell rang, Zuko called for them to halt their rush.

"Most of you wrote in notebooks. Type what you wrote and hand it in tomorrow." Barely before he had finished, everyone was running again.

* * *

Amanda usually tried to pay attention in class, but today she was too tired to care about grammar. So she ended up whispering with the girl next to her, who shared almost all of the same interests.

About halfway through the hour, she felt a sharp pain on the top of her head. She rubbed where it hurt, looking up grumpily. Sokka was standing right next to her, holding his club in one hand.

"Would you happen to be able to tell us what rule of dashes I was just speaking about?"

Amanda's mind blanked. Maybe that was why she paid attention.

"Err... no?"

Sokka tapped the top of her head again with his club. Amanda put her head down in embarrassment, trying to block out the class's laughter. Sokka went back up front, continuing whatever he had been saying.

* * *

_6:09 PM, Dinner_

Amanda sat down heavily. She really needed more sleep, and now she had a headache. And there was the paper Zuko wanted tomorrow. Maybe she could get it done before she fell asleep...

"Attention, everyone!"

Everyone looked up.

"Tomorrow, during your free hour, we ask that you proceed to room 219, instead of doing whatever you usually do. We will be having a free lesson on character creation. Thank you." Flannie sat back down.

Amanda groaned. She was going to_ have_ to get some more sleep tonight...

* * *

_11:04 AM, Room 219_

"Welcome, all of you, to Creative Character Creation!" Flannie exclaimed, looking all around the room.

'Creative Character Creation?' thought Amanda. 'What a stupid name.'

"First, get out a pen or pencil, and something to write on." The room was filled with the quiet sounds of opening bags and notebooks being dropped on desks.

"Next, we start. Is the character a girl or boy? Put down girl for now, since that's what most OCs are. Now, where is she from? Mine's going to be from the Northern Water Tribe. Only put down Earth Nation, Fire Nation, or Water Nation. No hidden villages. If it takes place before the war, or at the very beginning, or maybe far in the future, you could put her in the Air Nation, just not in the present. Okay, so is she a bender? Remember, bending type matches home nation. Yes, she's a waterbender. What degree? Slightly below average. She's kind of lazy in her practice."

Amanda was starting to find Flannies commentary about her own OC annoying, but helpful.

"Age. Sixteen. Name. Find a name that fits in with the nation's naming scheme. You've already covered that, so no excuses. Let's see... Kaili (K-eye-lee) might work. I'll think more on that later. Anyway, on to abilities. They should reflect their home and history a bit. Kaili grows up in the Northern Water Tribe, so she can't fight with waterbending, but she can heal with it. I'll throw in the ability to sneak for the heck of it. Weaknesses. They're necessary and should be real weaknesses. Well, she can't fight - that's a big one, seeing as she also can't defend herself. Hmm, don't know if I should give her another big one... eh, I'll see later."

'How much longer until we get to backstory?' Amanda wondered.

"Finally, backstory. Everybody loves this part. Okay, after the siege of the north, Kaili wanted to see more of the world. Her mother said no. So a few months after the siege, her mother finally says yes and lets her go off. Her friend Zokova comes with her. He's not a waterbender, but good with a knife. The two take a boat and end up in the Earth Kingdom. They pass by the Gaang, exchange news with Katara and Sokka, and go on their way. I'm finished."

"Finally." Amanda muttered under her breath. The page of her notebook was filled up completely. A second later, the bell rang. Everyone threw the poor notebooks, binders, and pencils into their bag, and raced out.


	8. Shipping Day

Amanda was walking down to her room. She'd just had dinner and now had a lot of homework to finish. Just as she was turning the last corner, she heard two people behind her arguing very loudly. Specifically, Headmistress Iva and that other girl... Flannie. She stopped for a moment to think, then heard the voices behind her stop as well.

"No! We'd be telling them to disobey a rule! We told them they'd get in major trouble!"

"It would be _us _starting it, not them. We only told them not to start them, not to not participate! Besides, it'd be controlled."

"Flannie, it just isn't a good idea. What if someone gets hurt?"

"What if I fall down the stairs next Tuesday? I'll get hurt. People get hurt doing everyday things!"

"Fine! We'll get a vote!"

Amanda heard two sets of feet walking off. Breathing a sigh of relief, she went back on to walking towards her room. She had no idea what they were talking about, but it was no use wondering; either she would learn what it was when they announced it to everybody or it wouldn't happen and so not matter.

* * *

_Next morning, Breakfast_

Amanda practically inhaled the food on her plate. Cema, sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow.

"Hungry?"

Amanda nodded, her mouth too stuffed with food to speak. She managed to swallow the food, then turned to her roommate.

"I was up really early to finish my homework, and I ended up reading a bit too. Studying and writing for three hours sure makes you hungry..." She went back to eating.

"Attention, everyone!" All the heads in the room swiveled to look at Iva.

"Today, we have a special treat..."

The room was so silent, you could have heard a cockroach scuttle across the floor. Thankfully, nobody did, as the exterminator had been thorough.

"...Shipping Day."

The announcement was followed by cheers. It took six minutes for the crowd to quiet down enough for Iva to speak again.

"Today, follow your usual schedule, but the classes will be different. We're not going to ruin the surprise for you, so don't bother asking what they are. Now, today has some special rules..."

Katara stood up as Iva sat down again. She picked up a paper sitting next to her plate.

"First off, no pairing bashing. You can say why you think they absolutely cannot happen, but no bashing. We're all trying to have fun, after all. Second, don't throw objects at each other, or seriously injure people by attacking them. Third, have fun." She smiled and sat down.

"So, any questions?" asked Flannie, playing with her fork.

Silence.

"Okay then. Good to go."

* * *

As she walked down the hallway with Cema, Amanda wondered what her first 'class' was going to be. As she stepped outside onto the great stone steps, she squinted. The sun was very bright today. A girl near her put on some sunglasses.

As the group walked down towards Appa's usual lesson spot, they noticed that Flannie and Ty Lee were there as well. As they drew closer, their conversation could be heard.

"...so it's like juggling flaming coconuts, except these are squishy and not on fire."

"Okay!" was Ty Lee's cheerful reply. She started juggling some bean bags, dropped one, picked it up again, and then started juggling easily.

Flannie nodded, smiling. She turned around and jogged past the crowd of students and up to the doors of the building.

As soon as everybody had arrived, Ty Lee paused in her juggling.

"Welcome everyone! I'm Ty Lee! I get to guide your first class today. It's going to be so much fun! First, I have to explain to you what we're going to do today. See, each of you is going to have two teams: a Katara shipping team, and a Sokka shipping team. The better you do in today's activities, the more points your teams get. Whichever teams have the most point at the end of today get a special treat."

"What is it?" asked one of the girls excitedly.

"You have to wait and see. I'm not allowed to tell you." She paused to think for a moment. "And there's sort of the fact that I don't know either..."

She shrugged. "Oh, well. Anyway, let's get started sorting you out. First, anyone who doesn't want to be on a Katara team, come stand by me." A few people walked over to stand near Ty Lee. "The Katangs (KataraxAang) go over to that tree, the Zutaras (ZukoxKatara) by that stump, Jetaras (JetxKatara) by that lumpy rock over there, and Karus (KataraxHaru) near that mushroom ring." As soon as everybody had a group to stand in, she continued. "You'll see a clipboard with some paper and a pencil on the ground. Everybody needs write their names on the paper."

For a few minutes, the air was filled only by the sounds of chirping birds and scratching pencils.

"Ok, now that everybody is done, let's do the Sokka shipping teams. Anyone who doesn't want to be on a Sokka shipping team, come stand by me again. Now, Tykkas (Ty LeexSokka) over by the tree, Soyus (SokkaxYue) by the stump, Sosukis (SokkaxSuki) next to the rock, and Sokulas (SokkaxAzula) in the mushroom ring."

After everyone had gotten sorted into teams, Ty Lee had them follow her to a dirt path. The group walked along it for a few minutes, ending up at a big field.

The grass there was very tall, turning yellow in the fall weather. A river ran along the opposite side, but the others were framed by a thick forest. The path seemed to be the only way to and from the field.

Amanda rubbed her eyes and blinked. No, her vision wasn't going odd. She really was seeing the odd assortment of objects. The confused girl shook her head and hurried to catch up with the group.

"It's an obstacle course," explained Ty Lee, once they were gathered in the middle of the field. "Whoever ends up being first gets five points for each of their teams. Whoever is second, gets three, and whoever come third gets one. Let's split you up in to groups of seven each..."

* * *

Amanda was feeling pretty confident now. Ty Lee had shown them how to get through the obstacle course, and most of the obstacles required skills she knew. The rest of it was just running quickly, and Amanda was on her school's track team. And after she'd beaten the other six people in her group, she was sure she had a chance at winning.

Impatiently hopping from foot to foot, Amanda watched the race of the third and final group. 'After this, it's the finals. I can win. Just be patient,' she told herself. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the race was over. 'Just five more minutes. Just five more minutes...'

After another eternity, it was time for Amanda to line up with the winners of the other two groups. She stared ahead, unblinking. Her ears waited for the sound of Ty Lee's voice, shouting, "Go!" And as soon as she heard it, she shot forward.

"Go, Amanda!" Cema screamed. "You can do it!"

Amanda threw herself to the ground, wriggling as quickly as she could under the wires, strung sideways and just above her head. She wondered for a heartbeat if it was barbed, but then she was out and climbing over a wall. Her hand slipped on the first handhold, and she landed painfully - there was no mat. Gritting her teeth, she shook her hair out of her eyes, and started up again. This time she got over, and jumped off at least three feet before the ground. Vaguely, she was aware of the cheering all around her.

"Come on! Don't let those boys beat you! Win, Amanda!" Cema cheered. Amanda was just ahead of the boys, although Cema wondered if she could get through the next obstacle quickly enough.

Next was a pit of mud. It was freezing, and sticky, and hard to get through at all. Amanda's slight lead was lost; she was starting to lag behind. At last, though, she was out of the mud and running again. Several tree trunks were ahead of her, and for all she cared, they were round balance beams. Getting across was easy. Beyond that was something vaguely resembling a vault.

"Almost there! Almost there!" Cema screeched. Her voice, by now, was husky from shouting so much.

Amanda was racing one of the other contestants to the finishing line. The other had fallen behind long ago now. Clouds had gradually rolled in, and now a faint drizzle was coming down.

Luck was on her side; the boy she was racing tripped, and by the time he had gotten up again, Amanda had already won.

In the background, she could hear cheers. And all of a sudden, someone tackled her to the ground.

"You won!" said Cema needlessly.

"Get... off... of me... please..." Amanda panted. Her friend obliged, and she was able to pull herself onto her feet. Ty Lee came over, congratulated her, and asked her which teams she was on.

"Katang... and Sosuki..." Ty Lee marked something down on another clipboard, and started gathering everyone together again.

* * *

Amanda and Cema huddled together outside their next class' room. The drizzle had managed to work its way into their clothing, and the hallway was chilly. At least they had all had the chance to wash the mud off. The class before them poured out into the hallway, and then the two girls were free to enter.

This room wasn't like the other classrooms. The floor was speckled white tile, the kind that Amanda would have only expected in a school hallway or cafeteria. The walls and ceiling were brown. There were no desks, no chairs, and no windows, although there were a few doors.

"Cold?" a voice asked from their left. Turning, they saw Flannie, now dressed what could have passed for armor. Cema nodded.

"Tea? We only have Ginseng, sorry. But it's made by the best tea maker in Ba Sing Se." She walked over to a table that Amanda and Cema hadn't seen, and poured the steaming tea into to cups. She handed it to them.

"Careful, it's really hot." The warning came too late, as Amanda had already burned her tongue on her tea.

The tea warmed them quickly once it had cooled down enough to drink. Pretty soon, everyone in the class had gathered, and the 'lesson' could begin.

"Alright," Flannie began, "who here is decent with strategy games?" Several hands shot up. Flannie nodded. "Good. Because we're going to play a strategy game. It is going to be far different from any other that you've played before, but still a strategy game. Got it?" A few people gave confused nods; the rest just stood still.

"We only have time for Katara shipping, but everyone on the winning team gets to give one point to their Sokka pairing. The winning team gets 15 points for its pairing. If you don't have a Katara pairing, just pick a team to be on. Now, Katangs to the front wall, Zutaras to the left wall, Jetaras to the back wall, and Karus to the right wall."

They all scurried about in confusion for a few minutes. Only one person was on the Karu team, and Flannie let him move over to the Jetara team. Then she explained the rules of the game. After that, each teams went through a different door.

There were a lot of boxes. Amanda walked around a bit, looking into each one as she passed. Each one had a piece of the armor that Flannie had been wearing, in many different sizes.

"Okay," Flannie's voice boomed. Everybody jumped, then realized there was a loudspeaker on the wall. "Put on the armor-like stuff. If you need assistance, come out to me again. I'll thump you on the head for being too stupid to put on simple gear, and then help you get it on. Once you're done, find a place to sit down and wait."

There were enough sizes for everyone to find a piece to fit them. Amanda snapped on the forearm pieces first, and then the upper arm pieces. Following that was plate that covered her chest and stomach, which was hard, but flexible. Two more things to cover each leg, and some boots. Last of all, she put on a helmet with a greenish visor.

While waiting, she amused herself by counting the flecks of paint missing from the wall. In only a few minutes, the loudspeaker came on again, this time asking if everyone was finished dressing, and if they were to move on through the door.

Jaws dropped open as they stepped into the next room. There were a number of round platforms all around the room, maybe a metre across. Amanda noticed that each and every platform also had a keyboard attached to it, held up at waist height with slender steel bars.

"Choose a platform," spoke Flannie from the corner. "Careful getting up on it though."

One boy did not heed her warning; as he stepped on the platform, the surface moved beneath his feet, causing him to slip and fall in a heap to the ground. Everybody but him started laughing.

"It's not that funny!" he protested as he got up. "Stop laughing!"

"You may not think it's funny, but we do," giggled Amanda.

The boy, now glaring at the few people who were still laughing, got up onto the platform again. This time, he managed not to fall.

As soon as everyone was safely on the strange platforms, Flannie started giving instructions.

"See the big blue button on the panel? Press it. Now flip the switch on the _left_ side. If you can't remember which is your left, make your forefinger and thumb in to a L shape. Now, the game you are about to play is a virtual reality type game. That is, it will seem like you are in a totally different world. You will see and hear things in that world, and feel any bumps that you get in that world. This technology is so advanced, it doesn't even exist."

'Huh?' wondered Amanda. 'What does she mean it doesn't exist?'

"Anyway, press the big green button, and then push the switch on the left side again. That will take you into the game. The instructions within it should be clear. " She left.

Everybody followed the instructions in unison.

* * *

She felt as if she was floating in space. Her vision was blank, and she could hear nothing but the ringing in her ears.

Then Amanda fell forward onto the grass. Everybody else around her evidently had done the same, because cries of pain echoed around the field.

Mist blocked the distance from their sight. All they could see was a figure approaching. The figure came closer, and everyone realized it was Flannie.

"Why are you all just standing around? Get into your groups!" she ordered. Everybody scrambled to do as she said.

"Let's get rid of this stupid fog," she muttered, and snapped her fingers. Instantly, the fog drew away, revealing a castle-like structure in front, in back, to the left, and to the right of the group.

"For the tutorial, just clap your hands three times. That should explain almost everything. Also, time passes more quickly here, so we should be done by the end of the hour." Ignoring the confused looks, she walked over to a nearby boulder, sat down on it, and closed her eyes.

Hesitantly, someone clapped their hands three times. His form disappeared. Someone else tried it, and soon everybody except Flannie had vanished.

* * *

The tutorial ended up being an explanation on the rules of the game, and how to play. As soon as it was over, they got instantly teleported back to the space between the castles.

"Right, this should be equally balanced as far as equipment goes," said Flannie. "Katang gets cannons. Zutara gets flamethrowers. Jetara gets a really big and really cool tree. All three get to loot Karu's castle. Have fun." With that, she disappeared.

Everyone dashed for their respective castle. The Jetara group found that there was indeed a very big and imposing tree, with a treehouse full of weapons of every sort. The Zutaras busied themselves with learning to use the flamethrowers, and the Katangs found cannonballs and gunpowder to use with the cannons.

Seeing as she was useless with any sort of weapon, and didn't want to blow up the cannons, Amanda went off to the Karu castle. Poking around, she ended up in a library. As she was looking through the books, she heard the door open. Holding her breath, she crouched down and peered around the end of the shelf.

The person's armor was red. 'Zutaran,' Amanda thought. Carefully, she slipped around the other end of the shelf. The person looked around for a few minutes, and then hesitantly walked up to the shelf. Amanda quietly made her way around him, and into the room before. 'Might as well go back to the base,' she thought, and that was what she did.

* * *

A cry of pain came from the right. Quickly, Amanda dashed over to her wounded ally, and used some of the water in her canteen to heal her. A weak smile was sent her way before the person vanished anyway. Blinking, she stood up again.

"Hi Amanda!" Cema's voice came from behind. Whirling around, she was surprised to see her friend in the orange-brown armor of Jetara.

"How's it going?" she asked, ignoring Amanda's stare.

"Er... okay, I guess..."

"I'll see you around then. Good luck!" Cema bounded away again. Confused about what she should do, Amanda stood still for a few moments.

Then the club came down on her head, and her vision went blank.

* * *

"Hm... you took longer than I expected to lose. Good job!" Flannie speaking was the first thing she heard.

The second was a 'thunk' as she fell to the ground.

"Oww... what happened?"

"You died. Now you're out of the game. Get up and you can have some tea. We've got Jasmine now."

Gingerly, Amanda picked herself off the ground. After getting out of the armor, she enjoyed a hot cup of Jasmine tea. It wasn't a surprise it was the best tea in Ba Sing Sai; it was the best tea she'd ever drank.

Gradually, more people came into the room. Near the end of the hour, loud cheers came from the room of the Zutaras. Their few members still in the game burst out, hugging teammates and dancing around the room. One last Katang slinked out of his team's room, glaring at the Zutara team.

Amanda and Cema turned towards each other.

"I think they won," said Cema.

"I think you're right," replied Amanda.

"You're both right," said Flannie, coming up beside them. "It's also time for you to go on to your next class."

* * *

Pointy objects flew through the air. Cema winced as one grazed her arm.

"Hurry in. Hopefully you'll be less boring than the last group..."

"Mai?" whispered Amanda. "Who in their right mind would hire her to teach?"

"Who cares?" Cema whispered back. "As long as we come out alive..."

"You each pick a name out of the box," Mai said in a bored tone. "That's what team you're on." She started doing something with her daggers.

Amanda and Cema both got on the Sokula team. Once everyone had a team, they stood around staring at each other for a few minutes.

"Well, don't just stand around all day. Debate or something."

"Err... Sokka and Azula make a cute couple?" Cema stated tentatively.

"They do not! _Yue _and Sokka make a good couple!"

"No way! Sokka and Suki!"

"Yeah, and anyways Yue is dead and Suki is an awesome fighter!"

"Azula is a freaking princess! How can you get cooler than that?"

"By not being insane and on the enemy's side! Yue was so sweet and selfless, she should _totally_ get to be with Sokka!"

Chaos broke out. People started yelling at each other, then pushing each other, and then kicking and biting, and soon it had transformed into an all-out Pairing War.

Amanda clung to Cema as they stood in the corner, away from the fight. Two girls tumbled by, biting and slapping each other viciously. The shouts were almost too loud for ears. Someone crashed into the wall a few feet from them. He sprang up, but fell again and cursed. His ankle was badly hurt.

Several daggers whistled through the air, hitting the wood door with a hollow _thunk_. Silence fell almost immediately.

"You are not here to kill each other. That's Iva's job. Now stop fighting and start debating reasonably." Mai glared around, and then returned to reading a book.

Gradually, the talk started up again, this time much more calmly.

* * *

Humming, Amanda happily made her way towards lunch. She arrived at the top of the stairs that would take her down to food. After she had gone down a few steps, someone came up right behind her, and pushed her very hard.

Screaming, she fell. The staircase was long, and she fell down every step of it, finally ending up in a whimpering heap on the floor. Several people handed her her things, and she thanked them. Upon trying to stand, however, she found that her ankle was hurt badly enough that she couldn't stand.

"What on Earth is going on here?"

Looking up, Amanda saw Flannie come storming over. Reaching the crowd, the red-haired girl tapped her foot.

"Well?"

"Erm... he pushed me down the stairs." Amanda said, pointing to the one who had pushed her.

"I did not! She tripped! She's lying!" he protested immediately.

"Which one is telling the truth?" Flannie asked all those around her.

After a few seconds, almost every hand rose and pointed towards Amanda. Flannie nodded, marched up the stairs, and spoke briefly with the boy. She sent him off to Iva's office. Turning, she saw that the girl that had fallen was still sitting at the bottom of the stairs. Frowning, she made her way down the stairs again.

Amanda tried to stand again, but it was no use. Then she felt an arm under hers, tugging her up. She looked up and saw that the person helping her up was Flannie. Blinking in surprise, she let the teacher haul her up.

"Is your foot hurt or something? You should go to the infirmary." Amanda just nodded, and Flannie helped her limp down the hall.

* * *

The infirmary was run by the insane herbalist lady. Amanda was surprised that she was able to heal people, after just being greeted by her. But now her ankle was bandaged, and she was able to walk.

She just barely got any lunch. By the time dinner came around, she felt as if hungry mice were gnawing their way out of her stomach. Thankful that she had no homework tonight, she dragged herself up to bed, and quickly fell asleep.


	9. The Day After

Iva glared out the window. Today was being a very long day. The time was not even noon yet, and already Iva had a huge headache.

'Why did I ever let Flannie talk me into believing this might be a good idea?'

Rain was falling outside, as if the weather had picked up on her bad mood. Iva almost felt sorry for the kids running the obstacle course. _Almost._

A knock sounded against her door, and before she could tell them to enter, the person let theirself in anyway.

"I want Mai and Ty Lee back. **Now.**

Without even turning around, Iva replied, "You'll get them back in a few hours, before sunset. Not later, not before."

"I need them to capture the Avatar-"

"-who also happens to be working here at the moment, under my protection. I'm really sorry Azula, but you'll just have to wait 'til sundown. I'm sure by then Ty Lee and Mai will have found out where he is sleeping or something."

Ignoring the angry growl and sudden smell of smoke, Iva continued to stare out the window as Azula stormed out. Yes, today was going to be a very long day.

* * *

"Guess what Azula! We found out where the Avatar is going to go after he goes back to our world!"

"Really?"

"Yep!"

"We'd best get a head start then. Come on girls, let's go..."

* * *

"I can't believe I let you do this!"

"Then you're living in a false world."

Iva glared at her for a moment before sitting down and putting her head in her hands.

"I have a headache. Get me some aspirin, will you?"

"Sorry, I gave the last one to Sokka a week ago."

Iva moaned slightly, letting her head drop to the cool surface of her desk. She heard Flannie stand up and leave. A few minutes later, the door opened again and someone tapped her on the head.

"Here. The herbalist lady says this should make you headache go away."

Flannie handed her something that look like a cross between a frog and a small tree.

"I think I'll live with the headache, actually..." She glanced at the clock. "Time for our meeting anyway."

* * *

"Alright. Everybody hand your clipboards into Flannie. Flannie, you add them together." Everybody shoved their clipboard in Flannie's direction, and she started adding the points together.

"So, did everyone have an alright day?"

Flannie spoke up first. "Yep. These kids have more courage than I thought, at least in the virtual world. They actually did pretty well."

Katara went next. "Maybe a little too much courage. The pairing battles in my room were pretty bad."

Sokka replied, "Yeah, those crazy girls were practically pulling each other's hair out over whom I should be with. Can't a guy choose his own wife?"

"Some of those fangirls were following me all day asking whether I'd be with Song, Jin, Mai, Katara, Sokka, or Aang," said Zuko grumpily.

"I'm done!" exclaimed Flannie, holding up the final scores.

* * *

_Next day, Breakfast_

"Alright! The final score has been tallied!" Flannie called. The noise in the room cut off almost instantly. "For the Katara ships... we have a tie! Katang and Zutara both win first place, Jetara comes second, and Karu third! For the Sokka shipping teams, Sosuki wins. Soyu come second, Sokula third, and Tykka last. Good work to all of you!"

Cheers erupted from the Sosukis, while groans erupted from the losing teams. Katangs and Zutaras glared at each other while protesting the tie and demanding a recount.

"I counted these scores up three times! Zutara and Katang are at a tie, deal with it, you both get the prize anyway. And no, we're not going to tell you what it is, you'll find out later. Ugh, why can't more of you be multishippers? Now everybody! Off to classes!"

Amanda wondered all morning what the prize was going to be. After lunch, the winners were gathered in a group and led into a part of the school Amanda had never seen before.

After many turns and twisting hallways, they finally stopped at a blue door. Everybody was crowded into the dark room, and then the light was turned on.

The room was painted a deep blue with a carpet the same color. In the center was a raised stage, with a pool of water in the middle. The only lights in the room shined specifically on it. There were raised seats surrounding the stage.

"Everybody take a seat!" ordered Flannie. Slightly bewildered, everyone followed her order.

Several minutes later, a few of Master Pakku's more advanced students came out a side door and climbed up onto the stage. Beaty music started to play, and the students began their waterbending display. It was amazing, with water flowing gracefully through the air and around peoples' heads. At the end, everybody stood up and clapped.

* * *

"Everybody have an okay day?" Iva asked, as she handed each member of the cast a cup of tea. There was a quiet murmuring that sounded like 'yes'. Everyone looked very tired, especially Sokka and Katara.

"Thank goodness tomorrow's Saturday. I don't think we could handle another day of these idiots." Flannie rested her head on her arms.

"You're not even teaching them," pointed out Aang.

"Yeah, but a pack of them followed me around all day demanding a recount."

After a few minutes of silence, Iva mentioned that Aang should get Appa and start transporting students home. He left to do so. A moment later, everybody else also stood up and went off to their rooms, intent on getting a good night's sleep.


	10. AWS

Flannie shook Iva, trying to wake her up. So far, it wasn't working very well.

"Go away... I feel sick..."

"Want me to get the herbalist lady?"

"...mrgh."

Having spent many a sleepover with Iva, Flannie knew to take that as a yes.

"Hmm... need some more plum blossoms..."

"Miss herbalist lady? Iva seems sick."

"In a minute, Miyuki always gets another plum blossom in her breakfast..."

* * *

_Later that morning, Breakfast_

Amanda hurriedly checked over the last page of her homework, trying to pick out the spelling and grammar errors. Finding no more, she placed it in her bag and started eating.

"Where do you think Iva is?" asked Cema. Glancing up at the staff table, Amanda saw that the headmistress wasn't there.

"Don't know. Don't really care much."

Flannie stood up and tried to get everyone's attention. No one looked at her. Sighing, she whispered something in Aang's ear. He made a motion in with his arms, airbending the air around him and-

**CRACK**

The sound echoed throughout the building, and all the students immediately looked up towards the characters. Flannie cleared her throat.

"A few of you might be wondering about what has happened to Headmistress Iva. She is sick with a rare, spreadable disease. Please be careful for the next few days and take measures to not get sick. If you fear you are ill, got to the infirmary where the crazy herbalist lady will take care of you. That is all, go on to your classes now."

* * *

Later that day, during lunchtime, the cast of Avatar and Flannie assembled in the Staff Room.

"Is Iva going to be alright?" asked Katara, as she sat down.

"Honestly, I have no clue," replied Flannie, who brought over some hot drinks. "The herbalist says that it could be deadly."

"We should probably stay away from her then, we don't want to get sick," said Sokka.

"Yeah. Can't have the cast of an extremely popular show get sick and die. The creators would get really mad at me and Iva." As an afterthought, she added, "I wonder why they let us bring you here, anyway..."

"Well, we already recorded all the third season episodes, and Toph's on vacation. They probably don't need us around for a few months," said Sokka.

Suddenly, Aang, who had been drinking a cup of tea, started coughing violently. The tea cup fell onto the table and the tea spilled out over its surface.

"Aang!" Katara immediately moved over to Aang, trying to calm his coughing fit, but it did not work very well.

"Don't tell me _he's_ sick now too," growled Zuko.

As Aang's coughing subsided, Flannie stood up. "Zuko, take Aang to the infirmary ."

"Why not the water tribe peasant?" "You're going to let Zuko near Aang?!" "Aang, are you alright?"

"Sokka, I need your wonderful research skills to help figure out how to cure him as soon as possible, and Katara can go along with Zuko to make sure he doesn't hurt Aang if you're so worried."

Sokka sighed, deciding that that was as good as it was going to get. He stood up and followed Flannie out of the room.

* * *

After lunch, Amanda started to head for her next class. Before she left the room, however, Flannie dashed through, pushed her aside, and sprinted up to the front of the room.

"Everybody! Pay attention! _This is important!_" Heads snapped towards her.

"I want everybody to go back to their room, take a _hot_ shower, and stay in their room until further notice! We have identified this disease, and it is very serious. It's called AWS, and there is no known cure at this time. The only way to prevent it is to do thing related to Avatar - watch fanvids, look at fanart, read some fanfiction, make some of your own, watch an episode, whatever, as long as it's Avatar related. Now go!"

* * *

Amanda took a shower with water so hot it was almost painful, and then went back to her room to watch some fanvids. After a few hours of that, she pulled out an Avatar DVD and watched several episodes. By the time she was done that, it was late enough to warrant going to sleep.

The next morning, Amanda slept in. It was nearly noon by the time she woke up.

"I'm hungry," complained Cema. "I haven't eaten for nearly 24 hours!"

"Flannie said to stay in our rooms..."

"We'll starve to death by then!"

Amanda sighed and sat down in front of the computer. 'Might as well get started on my homework,' she thought.

By the time was getting dark, Amanda was starting to get slightly worried, wondering if they'd been forgotten about. Cema's complaining was testing her patience, too, and kept jerking her out of the story she was reading.

"I don't feel well."

"I get it!" Amanda snapped. "You're hungry! I am too, but we can't do anything about it!"

"No, not that... my head hurts badly." She suddenly broke out into a fit of coughing. Once it was over, she said, "Can you help me to the infirmary? I feel sick."

* * *

"Great. _Another one._"

Cema glared at Flannie as she entered the dark room. "I didn't _choose_ to get sick."

Flannie only rolled her eyes. Amanda stood off to the side as the herbalist confirmed that Cema had AWS. Soon afterwards, Flannie dragged her out of the room.

"Um, miss Flannie?" Amanda called to her as she was leaving. "Can we have some food? We're starting to get pretty hungry."

Flannie stopped moving. "Knew I forgot something... ask Momo to get you all fruit or whatever it is you want." She stalked off.

Amanda did as she was told and then returned to her room.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, there was an apple on her bedside table, along with a note saying that it was safe to go to breakfast.

She chewed her food slowly, concern for both Cema and Aang (who looked so weak and OOC, just lying on the bed like that) draining away much of her energy.

She had just swallowed her last spoonful of oatmeal when Sokka came running in, waving a piece of paper. "I found the cure!"

Flannie snatched the paper from him, her eyes scanning the paper quickly. "Sokka, you're a genius." She looked up at the rest of the room.

"I need a volunteer, to go on a dangerous mission to get this cure. They'll have to be decently fit, knowledgeable about Avatar trivia, brave, and actually have paid attention during lessons."

For a few moments, no one raised their hand. Then, slowly, Amanda raised hers.


	11. Episodes, Part One

"You?" Amanda could feel Flannie's hot gaze burning into the top of her head, as well as everyone else's stare. She could only nod.

"Hm. I didn't think you had it in you." Flannie shrugged. "Whatever, you'll do."

Amanda blinked.

* * *

"Is this going to hurt?"

Amanda and Flannie stood in front of a machine. It looked much like 'portal makers' that Amanda had seen in cartoons she had watched.

"Probably not. The going in, I mean. While you're there, I can't make any guarantees."

"While I'm where?"

"The Avatar world, of course. You'll need to traverse through every episode, gathering clues to what and where the cure is."

"Every... episode?"

"Every one! Here, take this with you." Flannie handed her a small bag. Inside was a pencil case and a notebook with Aang on the cover.

Flannie flipped a switch on the machine, and a reddish-purple portal appeared. Amanda opened her mouth to ask another question, but was shoved in before she could ask.

* * *

After drifting in darkness for a few minutes, Amanda felt her feet touch down. She opened her eyes and gasped.

She was at the South Pole, standing on a floating chunk of ice. Strangely though, she did not feel cold. She held up her hands and saw that they were translucent.

Farther off in the distance, Sokka and Katara were trying not to die as they steered through the ice floes, and just made it onto one before their canoe was smashed to pieces.

Amanda wanted to get closer. Saying a quick prayer, she closed her eyes stepped off the ice. When she didn't fell the water around her, she opened her eyes. Her feet rested on top of the water.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she said to herself.

Closer and closer she walked. Suddenly, an iceberg behind Sokka and Katara cracked as Katara swung her arms, shouting.

"From now on, you're on your OWN!"

The next few minutes played out like the episode had. The iceberg with Aang in it appeared, Katara smashed open the iceberg, Aang slid down the side of the iceberg, unconscious.

Suddenly, the scene froze.

A small scroll popped up in front of Amanda, with a pen beside it.

'Which of these lines did Aang say next?

A: Wanna go penguin sledding?

B: I need to ask you something.

C: Who are you and where am I?'

Amanda took the pen and tapped 'B'. The scroll rolled itself up and disappeared.

"That was easy."

* * *

A moment later, she had been teleported to the village, in the next episode.

Another scroll appeared as Aang came zooming in on a penguin. 'What misconception did Zuko have about the Avatar?' it read. There was a sticky rectangle the size of a piece of notebook paper under the writing. Amanda stared at it for a moment, and then remembered that she had a notebook and pencils with her. She tore out a page and scribbled down, "He thought that Aang would be an old man who had mastered all the elements." When she pressed the page onto the sticky part of the scroll, it rolled itself up so fast it nearly took her fingers with it.

Fingers that looked a little more solid, but she passed it off as a trick of the mind.

* * *

Only seconds later, she was in the next episode, with Aang going into the Avatar State. Amanda watched for a moment, before noticing the next scroll hanging in the air next to her. 'What did Sokka and Katara say they were to Aang?'

Amanda took a pencil and scribbled onto the scroll, 'Family'. It rolled up, and three seconds later she was off through another portal.

* * *

This time, she was in the Kyoshi Island dojo, watching Suki try to teach Sokka.

The scene paused as yet another scroll appeared and hung in the air, almost impatiently.

"What is the Kyoshi Warriors' fighting style?" Amanda read out loud. "Um... Oh!" She scribbled down, 'Turn the opponent's strength against them.'

Apparently that was the correct answer, as she felt herself start to change episodes again.

* * *

And so it went. Each episode had a harder question than the last, and soon enough, Amanda found herself in one of her favorite episodes: The Seige of the North.

Sitting on the rail of Zhao's ship, she watched the moon rise and cast its silver glow over the waves. She ignored, for a few minutes longer, the impatient scroll beside her. Finally, she turned towards it and read.

'What is wrong with the usage of dashes in the following sentence?:

Though her friends invited her to the beach, Kina-not wanting anyone to know she hated water-made up a very lame excuse.'

Amanda thought back to the day Sokka had hit her over the head. She struggled to remember what the rule had been. Then it hit her like the club had.

'There needs to be a space on both sides of the dash' she scribbled down.

* * *

The next scroll was even harder: It showed five pictures and asked which one depicted Aang while he was working with the ocean spirit. One of them was easy to toss out, but the other four were nearly identical. It took a good few minutes of squinting and paying attention to the smallest of details for her to get the correct answer.

This time, the teleport did not come right away, and she continued sitting in the oasis. Nearly crying, she watched as Yue gave herself up to be the moon spirit. The scene was even more touching and sad when you were only twenty feet from it, and actually _there, _instead of watching it on tv or a computer. The episode continued playing out for a little while longer, before the group started to move out of the oasis and back into the city.

Amanda shifted closer to the water, wanting to see the fish. However, Katara turned back and looked. Quickly, she darted back behind the bush she was hiding behind.

"Huh?" A few seconds passed. "Guess it was nothing."

Amanda held up her hands to the moon, shaking slightly. They were no longer translucent.

An instant later, she was being teleported again.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if the dash rule is off, but that's what my mother and Wikipedia say...


	12. Episodes, Part Two

Breathing hard, Amanda stayed in the background as Aang went into the Avatar State. 'WHY does the stupid scroll have to be across the courtyard?' she thought.

She ducked as a rock impacted the wall next to her head. Great, now she had dust in her eyes. Praying to whatever deity might be watching over her, she moved to the side until she hit a corner.

Blinking, she realized that she now had a clear path to the scroll. Before anybody saw her and wondered, she dashed over to it and pulled it with her to a dark corner. Unfortunately, someone did see her.

"Hey, did anybody see that?" said Sokka, turning towards her hiding spot.

"See what, Sokka?"

"A girl! She went over there…"

Cursing in her head, Amanda opened the scroll and tried to figure it out as quickly as possible. She had just scrawled the answer down when she heard the Gaang coming.

"That's weird, there's nothing here…"

* * *

The second season was much harder to navigate through. Amanda knew, somehow, that she should not let herself be seen, which was more difficult to do when people could actually see you. Or if you were avoiding Toph. The questions were much harder as well. 

But somehow, she made it through to the last episode.

Heart thudding almost painfully in her chest, Amanda watched as the Gaang (and Iroh) talked.

"We should split up. Aang, you go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk...no offense."

"None taken."

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup."

Toph and Sokka ran off. Aang started Earthbending a tunnel down to the crystal caverns.

For a moment, Amanda wondered if she should follow someone, or just stay put. But she was impatient to find the last scroll and go home, so she carefully edged of out her hiding place and followed Aang and Iroh.

Following very slowly, she listened as they talked. She had not actually paid much attention while watching the episode.

'It's kind of scary here,' she thought, trying not to notice the darkness around her. Not paying attention to where her feet were, she stumbled and fell. She clamped her mouth on her arm to try and not cry out. It seemed luck was on her side, for once, as neither of the benders ahead of her heard her fall.

'I want to go home,' she mentally whimpered. It was dark here, and earthy, and whole bunch of other things that were not nice. But to go home, she had to finish what she had started. 'Why oh why did I volunteer for this?' she wondered as she stood up.

Suddenly, the light ahead obtained a different tint. Aang had _finally_ broken through to the crystal cavern!

As soon as Aang and Iroh were out of sight, Amanda sprinted down and collapsed against one of the large crystals. She could not rest for too long, though. That scroll still needed to be found. Sighing, she heaved herself up and started walking again.

Nothing much happened until the fight between Aang and Zuko and Katara and Azula started._ Then_ the scroll appeared – right in the middle of the battle!

Mentally, she cursed. Even if she managed to not die, she doubted she could get away without being seen. Then again, they _were_ awfully focused on their fights. And she really did need to get that scroll. But is was in the middle of the cave!

She finally reached a decision. If she did not go for it now, who knew when she'd get the courage to do so? Edging carefully out of her hiding place, she tried to keep an eye on everybody at once, _really_ not wanting to be seen. Finding that her eyes could not point in several directions at once, she abandoned the idea of watching everybody and instead waded carefully into the water.

The water was absolutely freezing.

Closer and closer she inched, miraculously not being seen. Finally, she reached out and grabbed the scroll. Now all she had to do was get back to her hiding place unsee-

"Hey, who's that!"

Amanda turned to see every person in the cavern starting at her. Panicking inside, she threw caution to the wind, running for the nearest exit as she screamed at the highest pitch possible. Behind her were the sounds of Dai Li soldiers, ordered by Azula to chase her.

She was back in the first cavern now, dashing towards the tunnel that led to the outside world. And suddenly, her hands were bound together – somehow still holding onto the scroll – and her mouth was covered, and she had tripped, and the soldiers were all around her.

* * *

"Who are you and why are you here, peasant?!" Azula was trying to interrogate her prisoner; however, the girl seemed to be in shock, for she did not answer and stared straight ahead, trembling. At least she was not crying – _that_ Azula could hardly stand. 

"Tell me!" she shouted, unleashing some flames in her anger at the girl's lack of response. This seemed to snap the girl back to reality, and she spoke.

"I don't kn-know. I ca-can't remember anything." She claimed.

After a few more minutes, the Fire Princess ordered her put in the dungeon, to pry more information from later, and turned back to the old man who had betrayed his nation.

* * *

Wondering why the scroll had not been taken from her, Amanda concluded that they must not be able to see it. That still did not help her situation too much. She had nothing to write the answer with. 

Somehow, she managed to wriggle her hands out of their prison, and she opened the scroll. Squinting in the dim light, she could barely make out the words: "What is Iroh's favorite type of tea?"

She blinked. 'That's easy,' she thought, 'that's Ginseng.' But she could not write the answer and so remained stuck.

There _was_ a metal splinter on the floor, just long enough to write with. There was no ink, though, or anything - even dirt - that Amanda could have mixed with her spit to form a makeshift ink. 'Stupid metal cell.'

After a while, she got an idea. At first she tried to push it out of her head - it was painful and awful and would likely get her infected with some sort of illness. But the idea played around her mind until finally, she could stand it no longer. She carefully picked up the splinter and gingerly cut the top of her arm. Holding back the whimpers of pain, she managed to write out the answer in her blood.

For several moments, nothing happened. 'Does writing it with blood invalidate it?' But then the world faded to black.

* * *

Now everything was white. So white that it hurt to look anywhere. But what else was there to do? 

After a few minutes, Amanda felt her feet brush against something. She looked down. They were casting a shadow on something, although she could not see anything. Willing herself to float downward, she was relieved to finally be standing on something solid rather than floating. Oddly, the part of this strange world not part of the platform was shaded in light grey.

What looked like a fountain was at the other end of the platform. When she got closer, though, she saw short clips from the episodes fading in and out of the 'water'. A clear glass bottle was on the white edge of the fountain. It had a label that read 'Essence of Episodes' on it, though it was empty.

She picked it up. Carefully, she edged it into the 'water', starting to fill it. But when her skin touched the 'water', she dropped it and screamed, pulling her hand out. The skin was suddenly red, as if she had put it under hot water. And it _hurt_!

'But this has to be the way out...' she thought. Shrugging, she plunged her arm back into the Essence of Episodes, grabbing the bottle and pulling it out. The skin on her arm looked raw, and her cut felt like she had put alcohol on it, but she had what she needed. A cork appeared in midair and plugged the bottle by itself. Another portal opened. She stepped through it, feeling exhausted.

* * *

A/N: insert usual apology sort of stuff and excuses for taking a forever and a half to update Besides the fact that I lost interest in Avatar for a while (due to lake of episodes) and the fact that I was busy writing a novel for NaNoWriMo by the time I did feel like writing more on this... I really don't have any excuses. I was lazy. And I really don't like this fic anymore (but then, I think most of what I write is awful...), but I want to finish it.

Next chapter... um. I wanted to have something on crossovers in this, but I'm not really the best person to be writing about how to write a good one (help?). I'll try, though...

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.


	13. Before Exams

She ended up in the infirmary. Thank goodness. She handed the bottle to the crazy healer lady and sat down heavily on an empty chair.

"Oh, you're back," Sokka said. "That was fast."

"It was days to me," Amanda moaned. Her arms _really_ hurt. The healer lady finished giving whatever weird stuff was in the bottle to everyone. Then she turned to Amanda and bandaged her arms.

"Shouldn't touch that, dearie," she said. "Burns your skin if you're in it too long."

"Didn't have much of a choice," the girl mumbled. She winced as she stood up and accidentally brushed her arms against the back of the chair.

"Nice job," Aang said, already awake. "I feel a lot better now."

Amanda stepped into the hallway and starting wandering in the general direction of her room. She was so _tired_. "Don't think this'll get you out of classes!" Flannie shouted after her.

* * *

"You have exams next week," Sokka announced on Monday. The whole class started in their seats. "So, for the rest of the week we're going to be reviewing everything we've covered so far."

"Exams? What exams?" someone asked.

"The exams that test you to see if you've learned anything. If you don't pass, you don't get a Certificate of Authorship allowing you to write fanfic."

"What!?" half the class screamed.

"Well, if you don't pass, either you haven't learned anything or you can't be bothered enough to even study for a test. Either way, you aren't fit to write about us. If you do _too_ badly, you even get to repeat the whole semester. And nobody wants that." Sokka walked back to the chalkboard and started writing on it. "Now, first let's go over commas, since so many of you have trouble with them..."

* * *

Amanda was nervous. Not be able to write fanfiction of her favorite show? Have to stay here for another few months? That would be awful!

So she started studying. She went over her grammar book and watched episodes. She even wrote a few character studies and asked people if they made any sense. Cema got annoyed with her and forced her outside when she was writing or reading.

She came up with new story plots and wrote drabbles – both the strict, 100-word ones, and the looser-definition ones (which had sparked a debate among the people she sat next to at breakfast about the definition of a drabble). When she was exhausted, she went to bed, and she ate a good, healthy breakfast every morning. Cema said that she was studying _too_ hard and worrying too much, but then Amanda said that she had to cover all the possibilities – the teachers had refused to give any study guides.

"Still, shouldn't they only test us on the stuff that they're reviewing?"

"Who knows?"

* * *

Friday afternoon. The cast was in the staff room. Toph had joined them – she would be helping to prevent cheating on the tests.

"I still don't see why we have to do this. Couldn't you just get some other people to teach 'em?" the Earthbender asked.

"Not as effective," Iva replied. "Hm. I wonder how many are going to pass?"

"Hopefully, most of them," Zuko said. "We have to go re-record some of the third season shots again. We don't have time to be teaching a bunch of girls how to write a decent story."

"Why? What happened to the shots you already did?" Flannie asked, setting down a tray of food. "Oh, and here are those fire flakes you wanted."

"Some idiot spilled something on them," Toph answered. "And the backups got burned or something."

"Huh. Too bad, then. Hmmm, I wonder who'll have the most passers..."

"Probably Zuko," Sokka said. "Because he's so harsh with them."

"Because half of them never pay attention."

"I should think it would be Aang's class," Katara said, "because it's so interesting to most of them."

"I bet yours would be the class with the least passers. Not because you're a bad teacher," Sokka added hastily, "but because apparently being creative is harder than remember grammar."

"That's true," she said. "Coughing up memorized facts _is_ easier than coming up with something new."

"I'm just hoping nobody fails too horribly," Iva said. "That'd be the worst." She shuddered.

"Well, worst comes to worst, we could always lower the threshold for people having to repeat the semester," Sokka suggested.

"But then they'd never learn anything," Aang pointed out.

"If they didn't learn anything in a few months, I doubt another few will do any good, Twinkle Toes. Can somebody pass me a bowl of rice?"

* * *

Iva had set to work trying to cheat-proof the tests. First, she had gotten all the desks outfitted with walls around three sides. Then she gave strict instructions that the students were not allowed to bring notes with them – not anything, actually. And that anybody who had written something on their hands or arms should go and scrub it off immediately.

Then every desk got its own cup of water, a regular and mechanical pencil, and then she was almost done. She made sure that the teachers knew to walk around regularly, and which room Appa's class would be testing in. Finally, then, she was done.

Breakfast was unusually quiet. Many people were ignoring the food, instead going over their notes one last time. Others read while carefully putting food into their mouths. Some people did not go over notes at all, but they were still very quiet.

Amanda was glad that she was not an empath; her own nervousness was enough to put a large number of butterflies in her stomach. She might have thrown up if she could feel the nervousness of everybody else as well.

Too soon, breakfast was over, and they were being guided to the exam rooms.

* * *

A/N: Hope this chapter is okay. I actually had this done ages ago, but somebody offered to write a crossover chapter and I was waiting on that. But three months is long enough to make you guys wait for a new chapter.


	14. Exam Day

"Again, if you get caught cheating, we will throw you out immediately and you won't be eligible to get your certificate for at least a year. Any questions?" Sokka glanced around the room. Nobody had their hand raised. "Okay then. Instructions are on your exam sheet. You have one hour, get started."

Amanda turned her paper over and nervously read the instructions. She had once seen pictures of monarch butterflies on trees in Mexico; now she felt like she had a whole small forest of those butterflies in her stomach. She_ hated_ tests...

It was simple enough – correct the sentences for spelling and grammar, or note that they do not need correcting. She tried to keep calm and have a steady head. It did not seem to be working, so she sipped her glass of water while she read the first sentence:

"The qick brown fox, jumped over the lasy dog."

That one was easy. She added the 'u', changed the 's' to a 'z', and crossed out the comma.

"Kitara shivered in her dress, the temperature difference between the hot desert and the cold library was extreme"

Spelling of Katara, comma in wrong place, needs a period. Seriously, this was _easy_. 'I can do it!' she tried to think.

"Sokka threw his boomerang and smiled as it clunked the Fire Nation soldier on the head."

That one was alright.

Of course, the questions got harder after that. Much harder. Amanda scratched her head over the last one for a full five minutes. After that, she checked her answers three times before the time was up.

Next was the exam about Bending. That one was much better – easier and more interesting. She had a little trouble trying to remember the names of the martial arts that Bending was based on, but that was all.

After that, there was a surprise test on characterization. She was really nervous about that one – it was so important. She carefully went through the questions - "Would Katara curse at Aang if she was angry?" "Is Iroh obsessed with tea?" "Is Sokka a capable warrior and strategist besides being comic relief?" - and answered them carefully, even if the answer was obvious.

At lunch, she stared at her food and barely took two bites. The person sitting next to her said that she should eat something, but it was impossible. Oh, she _hated_ tests! Why did she have to freeze up for a moment on hard questions and become so nervous she could not eat?

"Chill," someone told her. "You'll do better that way."

"I can't help it," Amanda moaned back.

The next test was on Original Characters. It was pretty much the same thing as the first test at the beginning of the school year. The only big difference was that, at the end, there was a part for them to design their own character.

Name: Ning

Age: Late teens – early twenties

M/F: F

Nation: Earth

Bender?: No.

Description: Ning has green eyes and long brown hair that she braids back. She works healing soldiers that return from the war. She is very proud of her work, and she is good at it. She is highly patriotic and really hates the Fire Nation. Sometimes she gets nightmares because of the injuries she sees and the stories the soldiers have to tell. Usually she is cheerful and never dwells on the fact that she cannot fight – she is perfectly happy staying back home, out of direct danger.

Strengths: Good healer, cheerful and optimistic, good with emergencies

Weaknesses: Cannot defend herself, can be too prideful, scared of being sent to the battlefields.

Plot: She runs away after being ordered to go to the battlefield to help soldiers there and not being able to plea her way out of it. She ends up at some random town and becomes a healer. The Gaang meets her when Katara becomes sick and doesn't get better on her own. She might eventually say that she ran away and have a talk about it with the Gaang. After that, they go their separate ways.

Amanda chewed the end of her mechanical pencil. Was that all right? 'Ning' did not seem like a Mary Sue to her – not overpowered, not bumping the main characters out of their positions. The regular questions were usually easier. She tried to take the advice given and keep calm, but it was really hard.

Then it was clichés and pairings. Okay, this was not going to be hard, she tried to think. Once again, it failed, and she decided to give up the whole 'tests aren't that bad' thing. It did not seem to help.

'Circle whether the plot is cliché or not.

1: Katara is captured by Zuko and falls in love with him.'

That was easy enough.

'2: Sokka talks to Aang about puberty in girls.'

Amanda blinked. Then she started chewing on her mechanical pencil again. Was it cliché? They usually were not done terribly well in her opinion – not the few she had read, at least. But did that make them... she circled 'cliché'.

'3: The Gaang gets lost in a forest where everything living – even the plants – can talk in human speech, and they have to figure a way out while avoiding danger.'

She had not seen anything like that before, so she circled 'not cliché'.

There were a couple dozen questions. Amanda finished with a few minutes left before the exam was over and, once again, looked over her answers. She was not sure how well she did, and worried some more as she handed the completed test up to Katara.

The last test was on Appa's class. She had to name various weapons, mark a map of the world, sketch out a couple of creatures, and various other tasks. 'Almost done,' she thought. Finally, she had answered the last question ("What do the characters above the show's title mean?") and was _done_!

A couple of minutes later Amanda was running out into the hallway and then outside, spinning happy circles occasionally as she did so. She was almost dizzy by the time she got to the grass and just sat down. Other people were cartwheeling, whooping, or cheering. A few people were quite calm, and another few were looking very depressed.

Only a week, and then she could get her results.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter - crossover bonus lesson - should be out a lot quicker and be much longer.


	15. Crossovers

A/N: FFdotnet was being weird with the formatting, but I guess I managed to fix it. Also, sorry for any typos/weird things in the text. That was caused by FFdotnet being wierd with the PM system. Don't send fic chapters using it. Anyway, I tried to fix it but I don't know if I caught everything, so please tell me if you see anything.

Hope you all like it.

This chapter was written partly by the amazing and wonderful Sithking Zero! Give him lots of love and money! (though I also take gift cards, CD's, MP3's, video games, candy, etc) XD

* * *

A beam of light rocketed from the heavens.

It slammed into the ground just in front of the main doors, causing a wave of illumination to wash over everything.

When the light cleared, a young man was revealed. He had two green jewels on his red metal chest armor. Underneath that, he wore a black, skintight jumpsuit and white patches were scattered across it. He wore twin red gauntlets with white gloves and gold trim. Over the back of the gloves were what looked like two short iron-black triangles. His hair was blonde, and held in a ponytail that stretched to the floor. A helmet that looked like it had two wings rested safely upon his head, with a blue jewel resting just on his forehead.

"So..." he drawled, looking up at the big building, noticing the defensive cannons start to whine into activation.

"Looks like I'm here."

* * *

Iva looked out the window of her office when a large amount of light entered through her window and disappeared quickly. "Oh, good, he's here," she said, and promptly called all the staff members to the staff room. After, of course, telling the defense cannons not to shoot him.

"The crossover guy is here!" she announced.

"You mean the funny-looking one with the weird weapons?" Sokka asked.

"Yep, that one."

"Shouldn't we make sure he doesn't get lost or anything?" Aang asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Nope. Momo's guiding him. Come on, let's go meet up with him."

Momo had managed to get their guest to the right classroom without any trouble. While the Gaang stayed behind to make sure that he had been given the right details about their world, Iva left to go make an announcement.

"Attention, everyone. Please cease worrying over your grades, trying to convince yourself you did better than you thought you did, distracting yourself from doing either of the previous, or anything else. Instead, please head to the 'Special Classroom'. It's on your maps. We are having a special bonus lesson," the loudspeakers in every room relayed. The students did as told.

Amanda followed everybody else into the room, got into one of the better seats, and then blinked in the direction of their guest. He looked weird. For one thing, there was the really long hair. And the outfit. And the way he was sitting with his feet on the desk, helmet pulled over his eyes, apparently fast asleep.

Headmistress Iva whispered something to him. He put his helmet back on properly. Then the man stood up and looked around at the class.

"Yo," he said to the assembled women (and few men), drawling in a southern Californian's surfer accent. "Nice to be here. I'm Zero Wily, and I'm gonna be a guest speaker here today."

A hand timidly raised itself from the back row.

"Yeah?" he said, pointing at the girl.

"That... that hair... you're not..."

"Not what?"

"You're not a member of the Avatar cast, are you?"

Zero's eyebrows raised slightly, and he replied, "Nope. But I'll be covering that later."

Another girl burst up. "ARE YOU A MARY SUE?!"

Zero just smiled at her, and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"'Cause you're handsome, you got weird hair, weird armor, and you're not a member of the Avatar cast."

Zero kept grinning as he turned towards the board and began writing on it.

"I'd like to thank both of you for bringing up two big topics we'll be covering today," he said as he stepped aside, his hair trailing in his wake.

The board was filled with writing, but at the top, a large sign was written in block letters: 'CROSSOVERS.' "Now," he began, clapping his hands together, "who can tell me what a crossover is?"

"A way of igniting a grill?"

"Not in this case."

"A dance move?"

"No." Zero pressed his hands to his nose, than dropped them to his sides.

"A crossover is a story which combines two or more separate stories into one. An example would be if the character Naruto from the show 'Naruto' appeared in the Earth kingdom."

Zero turned back to the board, and began to write. "Who can tell me some of the problems with crossovers?"

"Inequality?"

"Very good!" he cried,"One big problem that many crossovers have is a definitive inequality of interest. If someone likes one universe more than another, than that one universe will receive more attention and the other characters will seem weak and pathetic." He stepped aside to show a glowing stick figure of himself standing next to a wimpy looking stick figure with a glider and an arrow on his head.

"What's another major problem with crossovers?"

"They suck?"

Zero spun around, his hands changing and morphing into a cylinder with a red jewel at the end. The jewel brightened instantly, and a ray of light rocketed forth from the cylinder, burning a circular hole in the wall behind the speaker.

Smirking, the blonde brought the tube perpendicular to his lips, and blew away the smoke around his buster.

"No. They don't necessarily. But you have allowed me to demonstrate the second problem with crossovers, especially with the show Avatar." He morphed his buster back into his hand.

"How many of you have seen 'Independence Day'?" Without waiting for a response, he launched into an explanation. "Big, bad aliens come out of nowhere with supertech and weapons. Nearly blow up all of humanity. But how does that relate?"

He spun on his heel, nearly dancing with excitement. "Simple! It all depends on the level of technology! Obviously, if you were to have a crossover between Star Wars and Avatar, there would be a significant advantage to the Star Wars people with their lasers and guns, not to mention shields and lightsabers. These weapons would easily defeat nonbenders, who would probably be armed with simple tools and would be utterly decimated."

"But what about benders?"

"Raise your hand next time. But good question. Guns do level the playing field a lot, so a nonbender could easily take down a bender from a long ways away. But if the bender was close..." He let his voice trail away.

"What is the third hallmark flaw of crossovers?"

Silence greeted him. He sighed once again.

"The third flaw is natural difference of power what may be considered normal for a character in one world - firing plasma blasts, jumping high into the air, taking near mortal wounds daily, or having your arm completely removed and upgraded - may not be considered 'normal,' in another world. My plasma shot to the wall was a great way to prove that. It required very little energy, and I didn't have to use a whole lot of wasteful motions, like when Azula does her Lightningbending."

He paused, looking up towards the ceiling.

"But perhaps that isn't the best demonstration. After all, those two examples are pretty similar. Let's see... a good example..."

He snapped his fingers. "AHA! I have it! In the show 'Rockman.exe Axess', there is a villain who can control fire called Burnerman. Now, some of you might be thinking that this is the same as Firebending. Wrong! He may not have the control over his fire that Iroh may have, or even Admiral Zhao's control he can only do one-directional fire blasts. However, in one episode, he actually dives into a pool of molten magma in order to try to start a volcanic eruption. Not only does this not hurt him, he thinks that it's awesome and beautiful."

Zero closed his eyes and raised one finger. "And as you recall, Zuko got that scar from a simple fire blast. Imagine what molten rock would do his face!"

Some of the Zuko fangirls began to glare at him for this, but he just shrugged it off.

"Not only that, but in my own series of games, there's a character named Fairy Leviathan. She has powers similar to Waterbending, but she can stay underwater indefinitely, something that even Waterbenders can't do."

A student near the window stood up. "All you're doing is pointing out weaknesses of the Avatar world! What about weaknesses of YOUR worlds?!"

Zero glared at the kid, and without breaking eye contact, pulled out a tube from his waist. A fountain of light, similar to a lightsaber but more fuzzy and ill-defined, sprang into existence.

"Next person to interrupt me or insult me is fed a full yard of plasma. Understand?"

Seeing no resistance, he deactivated the beam saber and put it away. "And who said that these characters were all infinitely better? With Azula's Lightningbending, she can, at least, Firebend as well as Lightningbend, or control the lightning. I can't. With Burnerman, his control of fire was essentially 'Explode everything.' Even Zhao had a little more control over the fire than that. And with Leviathan? When I compared her to Waterbenders... she can manipulate ice, but she can't manipulate water, or at least not with the skill and effectiveness of a master Waterbender. It's give and take, people. Everybody is good for something."

The blonde took the chalk in one hand and began scribbling the notes on the board. "The next common flaw about Crossovers is grammar, but you already have a teacher for that, so we'll move on to the next one, which is entry."

Without waiting for anyone to ask, the red-armored lecturer began to recite, "Entry is how your character or crossover meets. For example, the characters meet in a seedy tavern in Ba Sing Se? Or perhaps in the nonavatar character's hometown. And if so, how did they get there in the first place? There are three usual methods of arrival in a crossover. Now, you don't have to use these, but these three are what most people use:

"The first method is especially popular with fantasy and science fiction type stories, dimensional travel. This usually involves characters using some sort of portal. For science fiction buffs, few things compare to seeing their hero march bravely into a shimmering, magicy portal to some strange realm. This method of entry is applicable for any and all crossovers, as the portal might lead to the past, or the future, or to another universe entirely. This allows dissimilar universes to meet."

While he was talking, Zero sketched out what looked like a large ring with some wavy lines in the center. On one side was a few stick people that looked like American Marines with rifles. On the other side were some stick figures of several people and a large, buffalo-like creature. One of the stick figures was holding a boomerang.

"The second popular method of Crossover is what is called the 'Different Region' theory. Essentially, it says that the two worlds, rather than being from different universes, are merely from separate regions of the same planet. The big problem with this is that the two stories you're trying to unite MUST, and I place an emphasis on 'must', be of similar technological levels. Otherwise, it's not that believable. If the people from Avatar found out that they're on the same world that the Spartan II's trained on, Planet Reach, the UNSC would launch a full investigation as to why those people were there, how they got their powers, how they were there for thousands of years without any form of Space Travel, and how their own forces failed to notice a huge war going on on their most heavily defended planet, save Earth itself."

The blonde had drawn more stick figures on the board. It showed the same Avatar stick figures as before, and several other stick figures were shooting at them. Several of the Gaang's body parts were lying on the ground, and there was a pool of blood. He quickly drew a large 'X' over the sketch.

"If they're from different regions, it's more believable that the two stories are at a reasonably similar tech level, or at least in the same industrial level. For example, I would say that the Fire Nation is about at the same level as at the Industrial Revolution, while the Earth kingdom is much lower than that. The same with the Water Tribes, though the Southern Water Tribe was around Stone Age levels when we first saw it."

A new sketch, this time showing several knights fighting against a few Firebenders, had a large check mark under it.

"The last popular crossover method involves rewriting both histories. These, however, are the hardest to do, because it's hard to rewrite a character's history without completely destroying the inner character. You could have Aang and Katara going to the Ninja Accademy of Konoha, or me as a mere cabbage salesman who discovers his skill of the sword while defending his home and teams up with the Avatar. Yes, not very good, but these are examples. One big problem with this method is the tendency for characters to become OOC very quickly. People can create unintentional Mary Sues by completely ignoring base characteristics of the characters to make them 'Fit in'. Making Zuko twice as good in Firebending and making him a happy-go-lucky kind of guy would be an example. It's got his name, but it's not him."

His latest sketch looked a little like Aang standing next to a kid in a red coat with a metal arm and leg.

"Naturally, these are hardest to do. In order to do these, you must have the ability to maintain the core values of the character, while simultaneously creating a new persona and life for them. This is extremely difficult to do, and should only be attempted by the most skilled of writers."

He sighed before continuing, "There is a fourth style, however, and it's what we in the business call the 'Rotten Piece of Crap,' category. It's essentially the same as any other bad story, but with logical impossibilities, and errors of both stories as well as the normal Avatar Mistakes."

The sketch this time was of Aang with pink hair.

"Let's move on to Crossover Problems, shall we?"

He erased his sketches and wrote a single word on the top, 'ROMANCE'. "The problem with a lot of romantic crossover stories is that it's usually between people who have never and normally WOULD never meet. I once read a story about Toph falling in love with Naruto. Why is this be a problem? They require a lot of work."

He began to list out the things necessary on his fingers.

"You need to set it up so there is some sort of romantic tension that moves SLOWLY (as to be believable), evidence that they're perfect for one another, the two to at LEAST be friends before going off and making out, etc, etc, etc."

He frowned. "You also have to prepare your characters and yourselves if they have to be separated. If they're from different worlds, for example, one or the other has to give up their home, or each other, in order to survive."

He gestured towards the class with the chalk. "You can try it if you want to, but it's hard..."

He erased the board and began writing a new word on top,'CANON'. "That's right. With crossovers, you have to make sure that the story is set and has certain rules that make it stay in canon with all the worlds, though exceptions may be taken if you are rewriting history. This can be a problem, especially for a show or story that's not done yet."

He drew a triangle with an exclamation mark inside. "This necessitates warnings, to say that 'This story happens here. Any knowledge of future episodes is unavailable'. Its necessary... but not so much because of reader clarity. Though that is important and should ALWAYS be taken into consideration, there is an ulterior motive..."

He walked over to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a flashlight. He held it under his chin and turned it on. When he spoke again, he spoke in a voice that would make a zombie's blood run cold.

"Flamers... heheheheHAHAAHA!"

He glanced around at the classroom. Seeing them all slightly creeped out made the blonde Reploid smile.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't necessary, but people will flame you with really stupid stuff, like 'OMG ZUKOZ NOT A MIMBR OF TEH FIR NATIOON NO MRE! YU CANT HAVE HIM BE ONE!1one!uno!!' Now, if this story were written with a Season Two or late Season Three time period in mind, than I could understand. But if it's written with a Season One or an early Season Three mindset, than these reviews are merely obnoxious and annoying."

He quickly began sketching some stick figures chasing after a writer.

"Remember though, you're writing a crossover. That means that you not only have one continuity to deal with, but multiple ones. You have to specify which part of each timeline that the story takes place in. Good points for crossovers to happen are usually ones where great powers have been unleashed, or where a new technology is tested, but use your imagination."

The next thing scribbled was a drawing of a huge ball with a ring around it and two horns approaching a small planet.

"Just a word of warning: If you have to do a crossover with dissimilarly-powered opponents, give the weaker guys a way to fight back. Say... if it was with Transformers, a Waterbender could freeze them. Or an Airbender could wreak havoc with the flying ones."

Zero stood before the class and smiled. "That's it."

Flannie, standing in the back, clapped slowly a couple of times into the silence. "That's pretty good. One more thing though," she said, "is language. Why does nobody ever write crossovers between worlds with different languages and have the people not be able to understand each other? Doesn't anybody else want to see that?"

Silence.

"Just me then."

* * *

After thanking Zero, slipping him his pay, and seeing him off (with three pairs of sunglasses on), Iva returned to her office. Flannie returned to reading answers off sheets to Appa. The cast members returned to grading exams. Amanda went back to distracting herself from worrying by reading the dictionary.

For the next few days, everything was peaceful, until the day came for the students to get their exam results.


	16. The End

A/N: The last chapter. Finished in time for the last episodes. Yay.

Let me know if anything looks wonky, ffdotnet wanted the whole thing to be a block paragraph for some reason.

I hope you all enjoy this and that the ending is okay, and thank you for sticking it out through the whole story.

* * *

The morning the results came out, Amanda was so nervous she did not bother eating breakfast. The room was filled with people talking to each other, in contrast to the quiet there had been the day of the exams. Cema was chatting with a boy sitting at the table next to theirs.

The staff were going around distributing envelopes which held the grades inside. Everybody was told to keep it closed, and a glare from Zuko was always enough to get compliance. Amanda held hers with sweaty hands and tried to focus on the grains of the table in front of her.

"Okay, everybody!" Aang called at last. "On the count of three!"

"One!"

'Oh no oh no I'm going to flunk so badly!'

"Two!"

'Stop worrying stop worrying..."

"Three!"

Mind suddenly empty of thoughts, she tugged the envelope open and pulled out the paper. Her eyes shut tightly for a moment before she opened them and started reading.

_Student – Amanda_

_All scores are out of 100_

_Grammar Score: 86 (Pass)_

_Teacher's Comment: You did a lot better this time around. I mean, you could still use a bit of work, but it's readable._

_Bending: 96 (Pass)_

_Teacher's Comment: Pretty good!_

_OCs: 88 (Pass)_

_Teacher's Comment: Your OC was more interesting than almost all of the ones that people pair me up with in their rubbish stories. Congratulations._

_Pairings and Cliches: 94 (Pass)_

_Teacher's Comment: Good job._

_Appa's Class: 90 (Pass)_

_Teacher's Comment: Nice map-marking and drawings. (That second one is from Flannie, by the way. I don't think Appa cares very much about drawings.)_

_Characterization: 85 (Pass... barely...)_

_Teachers' Comments: You did alright. Nothing majorly OOC._

_Overall: Pass. Congats._

She had passed? She had passed! Amanda cheered, along with a good many other students. "How'd you do Cema?" she asked, excited.

"Okay," was the answer. "I did get a perfect grammar score, though."

"Wooooow, really?" several people around her said, eyes wide.

"Yep."

"Before you all go back to your rooms to pack, we have several more announcements!" Headmistress Iva called. She waited until everybody was quiet before continuing. "First of all, we will be handing your certificates tomorrow! Second, we have one more lesson to give you!" At the second sentence, there was a collective groan in the room. "Oh, shush. It's not that long!"

* * *

"Alright. First thing I'd like to talk quickly about is songfics." Flannie looked around the room for a moment. "Nothing much to say. Just make sure there is a good amount of fic for every few lines of song. At least a paragraph, I'd say. And make sure that the song _actually fits_ what your story is about! And it'd be nice if you didn't use a song that everybody else writes songfics around.

"Next is reviewing. This is_ important_, so listen well! Firstly, constructive criticism is good. Some people don't think so. If those people yell at you, ignore them. They're idiots who don't want to get better, and all you can hope for is that they grow out of that idiocy, unfortunately.

"Of course, use proper grammar and spelling. Try to be specific – instead of 'I liked the fighting scene' try 'I like the way you described the characters' movements in the fight scene, it made it easy to visualize' or something like that. I mean, you don't have to, but it's nice. Any questions so far?"

Somebody raised their hand. "So should we point out the good stuff and the bad stuff?"

"Yeah. If you just go on about _only_ the bad stuff, you might scare that writer off if they're new or shy. If you point out only the good stuff, they _might_ start to think their story is better than it actually is. Sometimes you come across stories where you can't find anything wrong – no typos, no plot holes, no OOCness, no phrases that sound weird. That's okay. And you might be unfortunate enough to come across something that has nothing good in it at all. The grammar is atrocious, the characters only resemble the canon ones as far as their names, and it makes no sense at all whatsover. That happens too."

Another person raised their hand. "So... should we make the praise equal to the not-praise?'

"I wouldn't necessarily say so. Some stories don't have enough bad, some don't have enough good." When there were no more raised hands, she continued. "Flames then." Groans echoed through the room again. "If you want to flame.. well, personally I can't see why you'd want to do such a thing, but whatever floats your boat. If your receive one – and I mean a _flame_, not harsh concrit – just ignore it. If you're bothered by it, go eat ice cream or watch tv or read the newest chapter of your favorite ongoing manga or whatever."

"Have you ever gotten a flame?" a short, red-headed girl asked.

"Yes, I have. I just laughed them off and went back to reading. Well, if there aren't any more questions, I guess that wraps it up. Go pack up now and have fun exploring."

* * *

The next morning was her last at the Avatar School for Fanfiction Authors. Amanda ate her breakfast slowly. She had nothing else to do – she had gotten Cema's phone number and e-mail address, had fun exploring a bit, and had packed up the few possessions she had with her here (mostly consisting of her toothbrush and hairbrush).

After breakfast, they all went outside and the students sat down on the grass. One by one, their name was called and they walked forward to get their certificate (or not, for a few of them). Amanda fidgeted.

Finally, her name was called, and she carefully walked forward. And tripped over a rock. Ow. People laughed all around her, but she did her best to ignore it. She got up and kept walking.

Flannie was smiling as she handed over the certificate, holding in laughter. The two of them shook hands. Amanda was just turning to go back to her place when she heard a whisper: "Thanks for helping Aang." She turned her head back, but there was no evidence Katara had spoken to her. Flannie pushed on her back to get her moving again.

* * *

"I'm home!" Amanda called, racing down the front hallway after kicking off her shoes.

"How did you like that school?" her mother asked from a doorway.

"It was great! I got okay grades too!"

Later that afternoon, she went up to her room and turned the computer on. She saw that she still had that first fanfic sitting on her desktop. Curious, she opened it, and recoiled in horror after reading just the first paragraph. She quickly closed the writing program. After highlighting the icon and holding down the shift key, another finger hovered over the 'del' key.

Should she really delete it once and for all? It was her first fanfic! But it was so awful...

She let go of the shift key and opened up a new document instead. Hey, it could always serve as a reminder of how _not_ to write!


End file.
